BLUEFIELD, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A routine probation revocation hearing took a dramatic turn on April 30, 2025, when a woman fled the Mercer County Courthouse moments after a judge ordered her into custody.
Nicole Averill, the defendant in misdemeanor case 25-M28M-00841, appeared before Magistrate William Holroyd for a scheduled probation revocation hearing. During the proceedings, Averill admitted to violating the terms of her probation.
After reviewing the case, Magistrate Holroyd granted the State’s motion to revoke probation and ordered that Averill be taken into custody immediately.
But before deputies could escort her out of the courtroom, Averill made a bold and unauthorized exit—fleeing the courthouse in direct defiance of the judge’s custody order.
She was captured and taken to jail.