A Marion County man pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Taylor County courtroom to one count each of first-degree murder with mercy and first-degree arson.
Taylor County Prosecuting Attorney John L. Board said he recommended mercy for thirty-one-year-old Joshua Blake Price, of Farmington, because Price also pleaded guilty to two counts of computer fraud with use of a cell phone.
Price had been indicted for the 2021 murder of 26-year-old Tyler McKenzie Poston, of Grafton. Police found Poston’s body on June 25, 2021 along Route 119 in Taylor County. During the investigation, police found Poston’s body had been shot six times.
“To-wit; that on June 25, 2021, Joshua Price, by pretending to be his former wife, Faith Price, began texting and snapchatting Tyler Poston. Joshua Price then enticed Tyler Poston to travel to 119 North in Taylor County where Josh Price murdered Tyler Poston, against the peace and dignity of the State,” state court documents.
During the investigation, police found an expired driver’s license at the scene that led officers to Price, who used to own and operate the now-shuttered West Side Trading Post on Jackson Street in Fairmont.
Officers also found evidence that Price had burned Poston’s home in downtown Grafton at 1341 Victory Ave. on Jan. 12, 2021.
“He set fire to (the house) and took off,” Bord said. “We tracked him all the way back to Fairmont.”
Bord credits improvements in cell phone technology for playing a key role in helping bring the case to a close.
“My office interviewed over 40 potential witnesses including experts in cell phone technology,” Board said. “We invested a great deal of time on the murder case, it was all circumstantial, no weapon, and no eye witnesses. We got a lot of help from Lt. Brian Purkey and his experts at the Harrison County Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.
“My office has worked the last 15 months on the murder case in this matter. The case generated over 28,000 pages of documents and data.”
Investigators found that Price had compromised Poston’s cell phone to try and frame Poston for attempted abduction and sending pornography to a minor.
During the investigation, Bord learned that Price’s scheme had been going on for months prior to Poston’s home being set on fire and his murder.
“To wit; that on September 14, 2020, Joshua Price did access the Facebook page of Tyler Poston, took a screenshot of Tyler Poston, cropped said picture to alter Tyler Poston’s picture making him nude revealing his penis and sent said picture to a Juvenile female in Harrison County,” state court documents.
Posing as his wife Faith Price, Joshua Price began snapchatting with Poston, who previously had a child with Faith Price. Still posing as Faith Price, Poston was told not to save or screenshot any of the messages “she” was sending him.
“Tyler Poston was told Joshua Price was dying of cancer and that Joshua Price was being taken to a hospital in Pittsburgh and that he was not expected to live. Tyler Poston was directed to pick up his daughter in Harrison County at the address where Josh Price had sent the nude picture of Tyler Poston to a juvenile female,” state court documents.
Bord said Price instructed Poston to pick up a suitcase on his front porch that contained the clothes of his daughter and take the suitcase to a Harrison County address with him to pick up his daughter.
However, Poston had some sort of suspicion about the request, so he called his father, Danny Poston.
“Danny and Tyler Poston traveled to Harrison County to the address Joshua Price told Tyler Poston his daughter, Karmendi, would be,” court documents state. “Tyler and Danny Poston were met by the Juvenile’s father who told Tyler Poston his daughter had never been there.”
After he arrived back in Grafton, Poston called local law enforcement who opened the suitcase and found “child abduction items.”
“He was trying to set up Poston for an abduction charge in Harrison County,” Bord said.
Price will be sentenced after a pre-sentencing investigation has been completed, Bord said. With the first-degree murder charge with mercy, Price faces life in prison, but could be eligible for parole after serving 15 years. For the first-degree arson charge, Price faces a 20-year sentence. Each of the cell phone fraud charges call for 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Price is currently being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail awaiting sentencing in Taylor Court Circuit Court.