KINGWOOD, W.Va. (WBOY) — Indictments against suspects in two high-profile murder cases were returned during the October Grand Jury in Preston County.

David Adams, 56, who was arrested back in February for allegedly murdering a 13-year-old in 1985 was indicted on a first-degree murder charge. He is accused of stabbing 13-year-old Jerimiah “Jerry” Watkins and burying him in a hole near railroad tracks in Terra Alta in November of 1985.

When he was arrested in February 2023, Adams told law enforcement that he had struck Jeremiah in the face, dragged him to a shed, stabbed him and then put the body in a shallow hole, according to court documents. Adams was 18 at the time.

Adams was initially charged with second-degree murder, but now, he is indicted for first-degree murder in the case.

Also on the indictments, Andrew Wassick, Dashawn Scott, Adam Shaffer and Alexandra Abbott, were each indicted in a 2021 case where a man named Jimmy Lee Barkley was allegedly transported from Oakland, Maryland to Eglon, West Virginia and shot.

Wassick and Scott, who were 24 and 25 at the time, were arrested for allegedly taking Barkley from his home in Maryland, stripping him down, tying him up and forcing him into a vehicle before taking him to the cabin where he was killed in Preston County. Each was indicted this month for kidnapping and conspiracy, and Wassick was also indicted for concealing a deceased human body.

Shaffer and Abbott were arrested the following month in the case. They have each been indicted for accessory to kidnapping before the fact and conspiracy.

The person who was initially charged with Barkley’s murder, Damon Hudgens, of Detroit, and a third person who was originally arrested for kidnapping, Roy Cheshire, were not included in the October indictments.

For a full list of October indictments, click here.