Commonwealth’s Attorney rules Big Stone Gap officer’s death a suicide, cousin’s death a homicide
JONESVILLE, Va. September 11 2019 A commonwealth’s attorney has determined that a Big Stone Gap police officer’s death was a suicide and his cousin’s death a homicide after both were found dead inside a truck on Route 23 in March.
In a report released Friday, Lee County Commonwealth’s Attorney H. Fuller Cridlin said Big Stone Gap police officer Bailey Smith shot and killed himself before crashing the truck into a culvert on Highway 23 in the Jasper community of Lee County.
Smith’s cousin, Emeri Connery, was also found in the vehicle with a gunshot wound that was not self-inflicted, according to Cridlin.
The report says Connery was shot with Smith’s weapon.
The full report is below: (or click here to view)
