The Darius Lester lawsuit is a federal civil rights case filed March 10, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, in which Lester alleges that West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper J.I. Jones shot him twice without justification during a pre-dawn SWAT raid on March 10, 2023, then fabricated a hammer-attack story to cover it up.1PACER Monitor. Lester v. Jones2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint
What Happened in the Raid
Around 5:30 a.m. on March 10, 2023, the West Virginia State Police Special Response Team, working with the FBI, breached a home near Big Sandy in McDowell County to execute a search warrant.3WVVA. WVSP Reports Officer-Involved Shooting in McDowell County The target was Lester’s uncle, Jeremy Lester, in a child pornography investigation.4WCHSTV. WVa State Police Say Troopers Shot Man Who Tried to Attack Them With a Hammer
Darius Lester, then 21 or 22, was not a subject of that investigation and had no criminal record. He had worked overnight hauling coal and was asleep on a futon-style couch in a common area when officers came through the door.5WVVA. Community Members Protest Police Shooting in Welch6WVNSTV. Officer-Involved Shooting in McDowell County2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint4WCHSTV. WVa State Police Say Troopers Shot Man Who Tried to Attack Them With a Hammer
What the Lawsuit Alleges
The complaint, filed as Lester v. Jones (Case No. 1:25-cv-00153), names Senior Trooper J.I. Jones in his individual capacity as the sole defendant. Jones served as the SRT team’s “point man” during the raid and is the officer who fired the shots.2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint
Lester brings a single cause of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the federal statute allowing suits against state officials for constitutional violations. He alleges Jones used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment, applied to state actors through the Fourteenth Amendment.2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint The core allegations are:
- Lester was unarmed, was not a suspect, was not resisting, and posed no immediate threat when Jones shot him twice.
- Jones moved a hammer from elsewhere in the home, which was undergoing renovation, to the area near Lester after the shooting to manufacture a justification.
- The West Virginia State Police concealed evidence by refusing to release investigation reports, failing to equip the SRT with body cameras, and using criminal charges against Lester to block Freedom of Information Act requests.
The complaint does not specify a dollar figure for damages.2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint
The Hammer Dispute and Missing Body Camera Footage
Lester’s attorney, John Bryan of The Civil Rights Lawyer firm, has publicly contested the police account. Bryan visited the scene shortly after the shooting and pointed to the layout of the home: officers had to walk past the front door, through a kitchen, and around a blind corner to reach the couch where Lester was sleeping. “I don’t have any doubt they surprised him on that couch,” Bryan told reporters.5WVVA. Community Members Protest Police Shooting in Welch Bryan said bloodstain evidence indicated Lester was shot while still on the couch. The search warrant, he said, contained nothing suggesting anyone in the home was armed or dangerous and did not authorize a no-knock entry.7The Civil Rights Lawyer. SWAT Team Surprises Kid on Couch and Shoots Him
The SRT team did not wear body cameras during the raid, so no independent visual record of the encounter exists. West Virginia has no statewide body camera law, and agencies set their own policies.8Council of State Governments South. Body-Worn Cameras Bryan has said flatly he will not accept the state police version without footage: “Unless they have a body cam showing that hammer in Darius’ hand I won’t believe it.”5WVVA. Community Members Protest Police Shooting in Welch As of March 2025, more than two years after the shooting, the state police had not released the findings of their internal investigation.9The Civil Rights Lawyer. Cops Shot Innocent Kid in His Bed in a Botched Raid, Then Gaslit Us for 2 Years
The Criminal Charges Against Lester
After the shooting, prosecutors charged Lester with a felony count of attempted malicious wounding based on the hammer allegation. On July 6, 2023, Magistrate Richard VanDyke dismissed that charge at a preliminary hearing, finding no probable cause. The officer who swore the complaint, Senior Trooper K.M. Saddler, reportedly testified he lacked personal knowledge of the shooting.10WVVA. Charges Dropped Against Police Shooting Victim Accused of Wielding Hammer at Officers
In March 2024, roughly a year after the felony was dismissed, Lester was charged again over the same incident. This time he faced three misdemeanors: two counts of brandishing a deadly weapon and one count of assault. He turned himself in at the Welch state police detachment and was released on a personal recognizance bond.11WVVA. McDowell Resident Faces Second Set of Charges
The federal complaint frames the timing as tactical, filed just before the two-year statute of limitations on a civil rights suit ran out. According to the complaint, keeping an “active investigation” open let the state police deny FOIA requests for records of the shooting.2The Civil Rights Lawyer. Lester v. Jones Filed Complaint
Where the Case Stands
The federal lawsuit is pending in the Southern District of West Virginia. The misdemeanor case remains open in McDowell County Magistrate Court before Magistrate Sarah N. Hall, with a motions hearing scheduled for December 19, 2026. Lester is represented in the criminal case by Princeton attorney Joe Hall.12WVVA. McDowell County Man Once Again Back in Court After Initial Felony Charge Dropped No public resolution of either proceeding has been reported.