Man sentenced to 40 years in deadly drive-by shooting
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty in a second fatal drive-by shooting and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Justin Howard Groff, 31, of Hurricane entered a guilty plea Tuesday to second-degree murder in Cabell County Court in the death of Toni Lynn Cremeans, news outlets reported.
Cremeans was found in the front seat of a vehicle in Culloden with gunshot wounds on Dec. 8, 2020, and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities have said.
Groff pleaded guilty in February in the shooting death of John Glaspell, who was found fatally shot outside Maury Village Apartment in Putnam County the day before Cremeans was shot, WSAZ-TV reported. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for June 2.
Authorities have said evidence including Facebook messages and shell casings led to the charges against Groff.
Putnam County Sheriff Steve Deweese said at the time of Groff's arrest that the suspect appeared to have had a "vendetta against the two victims" because he blamed them for his girlfriend's drug overdose.