CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A man accused of murder in Kanawha County has waived his preliminary hearing.

Chaddrick Trent, 32, of Marmet appeared in Kanawha County Magistrate court Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. He is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his aunt, 52-year-old Irma Woody.

The case will now be sent to circuit court where it will be heard by a grand jury.

The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said the Charleston Police Department was called to a gas station in the Kanawha City neighborhood on Sunday, July 23, 2023 because a man, identified as Trent was “acting bizarre.” When law enforcement arrived, Trent told them he had stabbed a woman, later identified as Woody, where he lives with another family member.

The Marmet Police Department searched the Marmet home where Trent said he stabbed the woman. Officers found Woody in the living room, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office said.

They said Trent had “made statements of regarding” regarding the alleged stabbing. Trent told law enforcement that he would be better if he did not, “smoke ‘so much’ marijuana,” and took his medication. Deputies said Trent suffers from schizophrenia.