Nude casino arrest leads to murder charge in McDowell County father’s death

A nude arrest at Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro on Sunday morning turned into a murder case in McDowell County, where Thomas Jeffrey Lawson Jr., 33, of Iaeger, was later identified as the suspect in the killing of his father, Thomas Lawson Sr.

Nitro police took Lawson into custody around 1 a.m. after he approached an officer inside the casino without any clothing. He was first charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure, then later arraigned late Sunday in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on a first-degree murder charge from McDowell County. Lawson is being held without bond at the South Central Regional Jail.

McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy said charges were expected to be filed by Monday. By then, investigators had linked the casino arrest in Kanawha County to a homicide investigation in the Iaeger area. Deputies responded to Trail Hollow Road shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday after a report of a dead body, and investigators said Thomas Lawson Sr. had been found with multiple gunshot wounds.

Local reporting said Thomas Lawson Sr. left his home around 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, and investigators believe he was shot and killed that same day. The arrest in Nitro happened after that, when Lawson Jr. was found inside the casino. Authorities have not publicly detailed a motive.

The case now spans both McDowell and Kanawha counties, with Lawson first detained in Nitro and later tied to the death of a McDowell County father. For Lawson Sr.’s family and neighbors in Iaeger, the arrest confirms a suspect is in custody, but the central questions remain how the shooting unfolded, why it happened, and what led investigators from Trail Hollow Road to Mardi Gras Casino before the murder charge was made public.