Mercer County Grand Jury Hands down Indictments

By Greg Jordan
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
February 13, 2016

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/mercer-county-grand-jury-hands-down-indictments/article_83199022-d201-11e5-97d1-0bed93ec2b7e.html

Sexual abuse and sexual assault, robbery, escape and assault on a police officer were among the indictments handed down by the February 2016 term of the Mercer County Grand Jury.

James Lilly, 24, of Bluefield was indicted on 22 charges including sexual abuse first degree, sexual assault third degree and incest. Lilly allegedly started abusing a female juvenile when she was 9 to 10 years old and continued abusing her until she was 16.

Lilly, by his own admission, is transgender and in the process of becoming a woman, Detective K.L. Adams of the Bluefield Police Department said at the time of the arrest.

Lilly once served with youth ministry at the Christ Episcopal Church in Bluefield. Rector Chad Slater told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that Lilly had been hired with a grant from the Diocese of West Virginia, and came highly recommended. His position at the church ended Sept. 15, 2015 because the grant funding had ended and because “he really wasn’t doing a whole lot.”

Slater said there had not been any complaints at the church and there had not been any allegations of misconduct. Slater said he did not know at that time that Lilly was transgender.

In another case, the grand jury indicted Amy Rebecca Davis, 38, of Princeton on charges of robbery first degree, robbery second degree, conspiracy and escape. Davis alleged robbed the Little General Store near Princeton on Jan. 9 and the S&S Express in Green Valley on Jan. 10. Davis also allegedly fled the West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment on Jan. 10 and was recaptured soon afterwards.

Four men were indicted in connection with a Sept. 24, 2015 shooting at a Washington Street in Bluefield. Gregory Jackson, 22 and Thomas Mauney, Jr., both of Roanoke,Va. were indicted along with Joseph Stewart, 26 and Bruce Flack Jr., both of Vinton,Va. on six charges including wanton endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and conspiracy.

The men allegedly fired guns at an occupied home and were arrested soon afterward.

The grand jury also indicted Michael Wayne Lowery, 55, of Carollton, Ga. on charges of battery of a police officer, malicious assault on a government representative and obstructing an officer. Lowery allegedly became combative June 10, 2015 after Senior Trooper J.R. Tupper of the West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment approached him at a Mercer County shopping center. Lowery managed to get Tupper’s baton and strike him several times on the head. Tupper and other people on the scene subdued Lowery until other troopers arrived.

Conviction for malicious assault on an officer carries a potential three to 15 years sentence in penitentiary.