MINGO COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – More than a year after a woman was murdered in Mingo County, West Virginia, the trials for the men accused of killing her have still not been scheduled. One of the men is free on bail.

According to Mingo County Courthouse records, Chase Prater, accused of killing his aunt Teresa Harmon in March 2022, was released on bond in October 2022.

The Mingo County Sheriff’s Office says Harmon was shot and killed in a home in Delbarton. Harmon’s neighbor and friend Jackie Chambers says she remembers the day it happened. She says learning one of the men accused in the case is walking free was upsetting to say the least.

“If he was in on it, he should be in there with him. We don’t know who did it, but it’s just sad that something like that would happen,” Chambers says.

Arrested with Prater was 36-year-old Alex Dewayne Likens of Ragland, West Virginia. Records show that Likens did have a pre-trial hearing on April 11 but no future trial dates have been scheduled. He is still behind bars.

Since Prater bonded out, no other information has been released on his trial dates.

Chambers and other friends say they believe the process has taken too long and that the trial should have been scheduled long before Prater had the chance to be released.

“They should have done had their trial, I mean, it shouldn’t take that long to have a trial. I just hope whoever done it, they get what’s coming to them,” Chambers says.

13 News has repeatedly attempted to reach Jonathan Jewell the Prosecuting Attorney for Mingo County, seeking any information on this but as of Friday night, April, 21, we still haven’t heard back.

Mingo County Sheriff Joe Smith says their department will not be releasing any further information on their end without permission from the prosecuting attorney.

13 News will continue to investigate.