Victim Identified in Cabin Creek Road Homicide Investigation

CHARLESTON, WV – The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office has been notified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner that the victim in the ongoing homicide investigation stemming from the June 14, 2026, discovery of a burning vehicle in the 300 block of Cabin Creek Road has been positively identified.

The victim has been identified as Joseph Ephraim Lovett, 28, of Hurricane, West Virginia. Notification has been made to his next of kin.

As previously announced, detectives identified Harold Ishameul Patterson, 27, of Laurinburg, North Carolina, as the suspect in this investigation. Patterson was arrested on June 16, 2026, in Scotland County, North Carolina, and charged with First-Degree Murder following a coordinated investigation involving the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office, and the Laurinburg Police Department.

The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office is currently awaiting the extradition of Patterson from North Carolina so he can be returned to West Virginia to answer the charge of First-Degree Murder.

This investigation remains active and ongoing. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau at (304) 357-0556.

Anybody that is arrested is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.