BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — A man who shot his neighbor following an argument on the CB radio a year ago was sentenced Friday in Martin Circuit Court to five years in prison.
Noah Bowen Jr., 67, of Inez, pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to second-degree assault.
Bowen was initially charged with first-degree assault Nov. 19, 2021 after shooting William Danny Johnson, also in his 60s, in the stomach outside Johnson’s home on Peter Cave Branch off Old Route 3 in Inez.
The incident began after the two men argued over the CB radio. Bowen told Martin County Sheriff John Kirk that he agreed to meet Johnson and settle their argument. He told the sheriff that he consumed alcohol before getting his gun and going to Johnson’s house.
“[Bowen] said Johnson was standing by the road in his driveway. They began to fight, and he shot Mr. Johnson,” said the sheriff.
Witnesses claimed Bowen beat Johnson after shooting him.
Bowen drove back to his home and later surrendered to deputies.
Johnson, shot with a revolver chambered for .410 bore shotgun shells, was flown to Cabell-Huntington Hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove his spleen and repair six holes in his colon wall.
The two men had known each other since high school.
Bowen reportedly told Sheriff Kirk, “This has been building up for a long time. It felt good to finally get it over with.”
Johnson’s family members told news outlets that Bowen began disliking his father years ago when Johnson married Bowen’s brother’s ex-wife.
Judge John David Preston handed down the sentence.
