16-year-old West Virginia boy sentenced to 80 years in prison for killing mother, sister

HANCOCK COUNTY, W.Va. — A 16-year-old boy has been given a sentence of 80 years in prison for killing his mother and sister in their house in Weirton, West Virginia.

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Conner Crowe, 16, pleaded guilty in November to two charges of second-degree murder for killing his mother, Melissa Rowland, 39; and his sister, Madison, 15, in Sept. 2020, according to The Associated Press.

Crowe was given the maximum sentence of 40 years for each count which would be served together, totaling 80 years, WTRF reported.

Crowe was 13 years old when he killed his mother and sister in their house, according to the news outlet. Crowe was tried as an adult.

“I want to remind you that your sister was 15 at the time you murdered her,” Hancock County Circuit Judge Jason Cuomo told Crowe, according to the AP. “She was younger than you are right now, and you gave her no consideration, no mitigation for something less than a death sentence.”

Following the shooting, Crowe ran out of the house and tried to blame it on a stranger, the AP reported. However, the prosecutor claimed that gunshot residue was found on him and there was no evidence of someone else going into their house or running from it.

Crowe will remain at a juvenile center until he turns 18, then there will be a hearing to decide which adult facility he will be going to for the duration of his sentence, WTRF reported.

Crowe will be eligible for parole after he serves 15 years, according to the AP.