CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kanawha County woman will spend the rest of her life in prison for her role in the Jan. 2014 murder of Nancy Lynch, 66, who was stabbed to death in her St. Albans home during a robbery.
Despite her plea for mercy, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom gave Jessica Wilson, 29, a life sentence with no chance for parole during a Thursday hearing.
“ADHD is not an excuse for homicide. Bipolar (disorder) is not an excuse for homicide. These conditions, perhaps, are all aggravated by your volitional use of drugs and alcohol. You weren’t a proper parent to your children because of your illegal use of drugs,” Bloom told Wilson after hearing her troubled history.
That history included tales of drug addiction, the removal of her two kids from her custody when she was 18, an abusive marriage and the overdose death of a boyfriend.
Wilson admitted she knew Timothy Shafer, 29, planned to rob Lynch when they went to her home on Jan. 4, 2014 and waited for her to return. “I didn’t know he was going to kill her and I’m sorry for the family. If I could change it today, I would. I wouldn’t do it again,” she said in court. Lynch’s jewelry was taken along with a car and other items.
After Lynch’s death, Shafer and a third defendant, Megan Marie Hughes, returned to her home several times to steal other items. More than 20 days passed before Lynch’s body was discovered. Her basset hound, Hazel, was also abandoned upstairs in the home without food or water.
Shafer, who claimed Wilson was the killer, has already been sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for Lynch’s murder. Hughes is serving a sentence of up to 15 years for pawning items from Lynch’s home.
In court, Wilson denied returning to Lynch’s home. “I didn’t step over her body like they did,” she said, before again addressing Lynch’s family and friends. “I’m sorry for putting their family through it and my family through it and I pray for both families every night.”
Judy Clary, Lynch’s cousin, called Wilson a “monster” and a “murderer.” “No apology will ever be accepted by our family,” she said. “You murdered an innocent, 100 pound, 66-year-old woman for pills.”
Wilson plead guilty to first-degree murder earlier this year. On the issue of possible parole, Bloom concluded, “I don’t find that your conduct in this matter in any way near makes you eligible for life with mercy.”