MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – According to Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Brian K. Cochran, Charles Lee Dawson, age 45, of Stoney Ridge Road, Bluefield, West Virginia, was sentenced to the maximum penalties of Life in Prison Without the Possibility of Parole, for his conviction of First Degree Murder; 30 years in prison for his conviction of Kidnapping; 2-10 years in prison for his conviction of Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony; 1-5 years in prison for his conviction of Wanton Endangerment; and 1-5 years in prison for each of his two convictions for Gross Child Neglect creating a substantial Risk of Death or Serious Bodily Injury. According to Cochran, Dawson was sentenced by Mercer County Circuit Court Judge Mark Wills on September 29, 2025. Dawson was Indicted by the February, 2024 Mercer County Grand Jury.
Cochran, who prosecuted the case before the jury, along with assistant prosecutor David Pfeifer, said Dawson was convicted by a Mercer County Petit Jury on July 31, 2025. A separate, bifurcated trial was held on August 1st and the Jury returned a sentencing recommendation of No Mercy on the First-Degree Murder conviction, meaning Dawson will not be eligible for parole.
Cochran said that Dawson murdered Keri Michelle Billings“right in front of her two young daughters” in his home on Stoney Ridge Road in the early morning hours of October 9, 2023. “This was a horrific crime committed with the kids present in the same room, who were smart enough to record the incident because they knew what was about to happen because Dawson said what he was going to do.” Cochran further said “Dawson, who was armed with an AR-15 rifle, told Keri, with her kids present, that she’s getting the death sentence, that this is the end game for her, and that he was going to split her head, right before aiming the AR-15 at her head and firing.”
Cochran and his staff praised the two young girls for their bravery to get up on the witness stand to tell the jury what they saw that day. “It is never fun to have a child have to testify in cases like this but it is a requirement because every defendant has a right to confront each witness against him, but the kids both did great, and just simply told the truth.”
Cochran again thanked the Mercer County jury for their attention to the facts of the case and for their verdicts of guilty on each count. Cochran also thanked law-enforcement for their excellent investigation and said that he “obviously agrees with Judge Wills’ decision to sentence Dawson to the maximum amount of prison time available, which was Ordered to be ran consecutively.”
