BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – Opening statements were given this morning in the trial of Davide Hudson. Hudson – who was charged with First Degree Murder, as well as Kidnapping- is on trial for the shooting and killing of Amber Meadows, 19, at the Travel Lodge in Beckley in 2018.
First to the podium, Raleigh County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brian Parsons, who represents the state in this case, chronicled the events of July 9, 2018, to the jury.
“The strong prey upon the weak,” he began. “Some people seek to live life with no regard to laws, decency, morals or respect of life. The defendant in this case is such a person…”
Parson continued, detailing how Hudson and three other men- men who have already taken plea deals and will testify against Hudson throughout the trial- were roaming around Raleigh County on the night of July 9 when they ran into three women, one of which was Meadows. According to Parsons, at the time, Hudson and Meadow’s boyfriend were in a disagreement over illicit drugs, and Hudson thought he was owed money.
Through surveillance videos, Parsons informed the jury that they would see the four men and three women, all of which had issues with drugs, meet at a Little General Store where they spent some time together before heading to the Trave Lodge on Harper Road.
It was here that Parsons detailed that the switch flipped, and the four men, armed with handguns, terrorized the women for hours, ultimately leading to Meadows being separated from the other women and shot in the back of the head.
“At that moment, Amber Meadows’ life was snuffed out in that hotel room,” Parsons stated, explaining that the jury will see photographs of the crime scene taken by police, be shown through DNA evidence and surveillance that Hudson was present in the hotel room, hear from the medical examiner what killed Meadows and hear the testimonies of the other individuals in the hotel room that night.
While Hudson’s attorney, Robert Dunlap, agreed that all the individuals involved had substance abuse issues, in addition to acknowledging all the places they visited that night, he told the jury that he and Parsons have different cases to present.
“This isn’t a story of four aimless men roaming around or three troubled women with drug addiction. This is a list of stories cobbled together by folks trying to save their own hides.”
With his client being the only one trial for murder, Dunlap questioned the motives of the other three men that had been charged in the case and the inconsistencies in their- and the women’s- stories.
“Will he [Parsons] be able to morph all four narratives into a single storyline that you can buy?” Dunlap asked the jury. “You are asked to buy this narrative that this is how a crime was planned to terrorize a woman over a debt to her boyfriend.”
Dunlap quoted the statement of one of the men present at the hotel that night.
“If I was gonna’ murder somebody that night, I would not have been on those cameras.”
“What these witnesses are asking you to do is to acknowledge that they were playing a game of musical chairs, and the one left without a seat is the one responsible for them playing the game…Ultimately, this isn’t a narrative about three helpless women and one cold-blooded murderer. Meadows’ death was tragic and sad…but I do not believe that you will feel that four or possibly five stories cobbled together will pass you over to the world of beyond reasonable doubt where you think my client should remain in prison for the rest of his life.”
The trial of Davide Hudson is expected to carry over into next week. Stay with Lootpress as this story develops.
