Inset: Leroy Hunt (Mingo County Sheriff's Office). Background: Law enforcement investigate a crime scene on Triton Lane in Mingo County, West Virginia (WOWK/YouTube).
A West Virginia resident's request for a welfare check at their neighbor's home led to the grim discovery of a body under a blanket on the porch, authorities say.
Leroy Hunt, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder and child neglect with risk of injury, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The defendant was booked into the Southwestern Regional Jail and Correctional Facility on Friday evening.
The victim was identified by regional CBS affiliate WOWK as Christina Hunt. Her age is unclear.
At about 10 a.m. on Friday, a neighbor requested deputies with the Mingo County Sheriff's Office conduct a wellness check at a home on Triton Lane, which lies just north of Delbarton in rural western West Virginia. Before entering the home, they reportedly found the victim's remains.
A woman's body was covered by a blanket on the front porch of the residence, investigators said.
A statement from the sheriff's office stated that Leroy Hunt "allegedly murdered his wife, Christina Hunt, as she was entering the residence," according to the Mingo Messenger.
But the suspect was apparently not the only person at the residence as he allegedly committed the act of violence. The couple's 2-year-old child was present, and authorities hold that Leroy Hunt put the kid's safety at risk when he allegedly shot his wife.
Once deputies found Christina Hunt's body, they said a standoff ensued between law enforcement and the defendant. After some time, the suspect is said to have surrendered, and he was arrested and booked into jail.
An autopsy is set to be performed by the West Virginia State Medical Examiner's Office on the shooting victim's body, local ABC and Fox affiliate WCHS reported. The child was not injured during the incident.
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