PARKERSBURG - The defendants in two felony cases involving deaths were heard Friday in Wood County Magistrate Court.
Crystal Dawn Smith, 38, 1614 Seventh St., Parkersburg, waived her preliminary hearing Friday before Magistrate Joyce Purkey on felony charges of concealment of a deceased body and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The case was bound over to Wood County Circuit Court for grand jury consideration. She remained in custody on $150,000 bond.
Smith was the third defendant to appear in court in connection with the Sept. 20 death of Brandy Marie Adams, 25, of Parkersburg. Adams was found in the trunk of her vehicle at the Seventh Street Car Wash. According to police, the use of illegal drugs appears to have contributed to her death.
Investigators are awaiting the results of toxicology reports before continuing the case.
On Monday, the other two defendants in the case, Arthur Allen Thornton, 42, 3509 Sixth Ave., and Victor Lee Thompson, 34, 906 1/2 Tygart St., waived their own preliminary hearings. They also remain in custody.
According to court records, Smith, Thornton and Thompson allegedly conspired to move Adams' body from the place of her death, 57 Meadowbrook Trailer Park, by placing it in the trunk of a vehicle and transporting it to the car wash on Sept. 20.
In a separate case, Purkey conducted a hearing Friday to rearraign Matthew E. Lamp, 29, of Parkersburg, in connection with the death of a 3-year-old boy.
Following his arrest, Lamp was arraigned Thursday on a charge of death of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian. Friday's new hearing was required because incorrect penalty information in Thursday's arraignment indicated the charge carried a life sentence.
As charged under state code, the penalty for the charge against Lamp is 10-40 years in prison, removing it from the capital crime category and making him eligible for bond. Following a prosecution request for $500,000 bond and a defense request for $50,000, Purkey set Lamp's bond at $400,000 bond. He remained in custody Friday.
A preliminary hearing must be held within the next 10 days if it is not waived, Purkey said.
Lamp is charged in the death of a 3-year-old boy. The toddler was critically injured Sunday at the 32nd Street home of his mother. The child was taken to Camden Clark Medical Center and later taken by medical helicopter to Morgantown.
The 3-year-old boy passed away about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, according to police.
