West Virginia Man Arrested After Wife Found Shot Dead on Porch, Toddler Inside

A neighbor's welfare check on a rural Mingo County road ended with a woman found dead on her front porch and her husband facing a first-degree murder charge after a standoff with deputies.

At about 10 a.m. on March 13, a neighbor called the Mingo County Sheriff's Office to request a wellness check at a home on Triton Lane, just north of Delbarton in western West Virginia. First responders arrived around 11 a.m. and spotted the body before they even entered the house: Christina Hunt, 35, was lying on the front porch covered by a blanket. The couple's 2-year-old child was inside the residence and was not injured.

According to a statement from the Mingo County Sheriff's Office, Leroy Hunt, 35, "allegedly murdered his wife, Christina Hunt, as she was entering the residence." A criminal complaint obtained by WCHS added another layer to the allegations: after shooting Christina, Leroy reportedly fired at a nearby hillside, a move that police said put the 2-year-old child at risk of death. That second volley of shots forms the basis of a separate charge, child neglect with risk of injury.

When deputies found Christina's body, a standoff began between law enforcement and Leroy Hunt at the residence. He eventually surrendered and was arrested. Jail records show he was booked into the Southwestern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility on Friday evening.

An autopsy is planned by the West Virginia State Medical Examiner's Office to establish the official cause and manner of death. The full contents of the criminal complaint, including the weapon used and the exact sequence of shots fired, have not been publicly released.

Leroy Hunt now faces both the first-degree murder charge and the child neglect count. No defense attorney has been publicly identified.