BY ANNIE HOLLER
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

DELBARTON, W.Va. — A man is in jail on a first-degree murder charge after police found his wife shot to death Friday morning at a home on Triton Lane near Delbarton.

Mingo County Sheriff deputies were dispatched at approximately 11 a.m. after Mingo 911 received a call requesting a welfare check at the residence.

When officers arrived, they found Christina Hunt, 25, deceased on the porch covered with a sheet. The preliminary investigation indicates she had been shot once, according to Deputy Allen Mounts.

Authorities said they arrested the victim’s husband, Leroy Allen Hunt, 35, following a brief hostage situation involving a child under the age of 2 years inside the home.

The Mingo County Coroner’s Office sent the victim’s body to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office in Charleston for an autopsy.

Leroy Hunt was booked into the Southwestern Regional Jail shortly after 6 p.m. Friday on charges of first-degree murder and child neglect creating risk of injury.

This is a developing story and will be updated as additional details are released.

All individuals are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.