Iaeger man charged with first-degree murder after father found dead

Deputies from the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office discovered a deceased man near a home on Trail Hollow Road in Iaeger after a welfare check late Saturday, February 21. Investigators later identified the victim as Thomas Lawson Sr.; deputies said the body had been shot at least six times in the back and the back of the head and that a chainsaw lay near his feet.

Investigators say Lawson Sr. left his Trail Hollow Road home around 2 p.m. Saturday to help his son cut trees blocking the roadway and did not return. The victim’s wife grew concerned around 10:30 p.m. and contacted another family member, who called 911; deputies responded to the welfare check about 10:30 p.m. and Detective Randall Johnson Jr. wrote he arrived at the scene shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday.

Scene evidence reported by deputies included a revolver found in the victim’s pocket that "had not been fired and still contained all six rounds," according to investigators’ accounts. McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy at first withheld the victim’s identity to allow family notifications and said officials were limiting details as they worked the scene.

Legal filings and jail records show the victim’s son, Thomas Jeffrey Lawson Jr., 33, of Iaeger, is a suspect and is being held on a first-degree murder charge out of McDowell County. "According to a criminal complaint, Lawson Jr. shot and killed his father, Thomas Lawson Sr., on Saturday." Lawson Jr. was arraigned late Sunday in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on the murder charge and is being held at the South Central Regional Jail.

Those same records and arrest reports also link Lawson Jr. to an unrelated incident in Kanawha County early Sunday. Around 1 a.m., criminal complaint excerpts say, Lawson Jr. was allegedly naked inside the Mardi Gras Casino & Resort in Nitro, walked up to a Nitro officer, flipped him off, yelled something obscene and ran; officers tackled him, escorted him to a bathroom to get dressed and charged him with indecent exposure.

Family and neighbors posted on social media as the case unfolded. A community Facebook post that credited Leslie Rubin for reporting described the chain of events and noted, "locked up at the South Central Regional Jail tonight facing charges that stretch from a casino floor in Nitro to a quiet hollow in McDowell County." That post drew 604 reactions, 178 comments and 203 shares in the thread. A commenter identifying herself as Thomas Abagail Lawson wrote, "He was my husband the best man to ever walk the earth he would do anything for anybody he didn’t deserve this."

Sheriff James Muncy confirmed Lawson Jr. is a suspect in the investigation but has not released full details. "The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under active investigation by the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office," Muncy said, as authorities continue to process the Trail Hollow scene and coordinate with Kanawha County on the concurrent arrest and charges.