Montrose murder trial continues

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Days after the Montrose murder trial began, a Detective for the Morgantown Police gave his testimony.

Ryan Stollings sat in front of the Monongalia County courtroom Wednesday afternoon and told the court about what he experienced while arriving a crime scene one year ago. He arrived on the scene, saw the fatal victim Jesse James Loya on the kitchen floor and began the investigation.

That search lead him to Jeremiah McKinley Martin Jr. and Benjamin Louis Bradley. Both men are accused of invading Loya’s home, but Martin is accused of shooting Loya in the back of the head with a rifle.

The men forced their way into the house on 1248 Montrose Ave. around 4 a.m., on March 31, 2016. There was a total of four shots that night, one shot Kyle Brown, a friend of Loya, in the hand. Brown survived.

There was much discussion on the car that Martin is accused of driving that night. Stollings had store surveillance video of a white Chevy Cruze passing the Dairy Mart on Richwood Ave. around 4:30 a.m.

Martin’s phone was investigated shortly after he was arrested. Stollings said the detectives were able to go through all of Martin’s internet search history and found the websites to WBOY 12 News and google searches of WV arrest warrants just hours after the crime was committed at Montrose Ave.

Bradley has not been sent to trial yet. Testimony will resume tomorrow at 9 a.m.