PRINCETON — Princeton Police Department investigators believe Lorenzo Barnes fired a fatal shot toward Jason Hicks’ neck Feb. 2, then ran over the victim’s legs as he fled in a borrowed car.

Wednesday, the state, represented by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John McGinnis, revealed the evidence against Barnes during a preliminary hearing. At the conclusion of the proceeding, Mercer County Magistrate James Dent found probable cause that Barnes, 22, murdered 30-year-old Hicks in the parking lot at 634 North Wickham Ave.

PPD Det. D.B. Whited was the detective on call the night of the deadly shooting. He received the potential homicide call at roughly 7:35 p.m. and rushed to the scene.

“I found the victim, Jason Hicks, lying on the ground, bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound,” Whited said.

The bullet appeared to have entered the side of Hicks' neck, and the officer said there was no hope that rescue workers could resuscitate Hicks.

“He was deceased,” Whited said.

A young couple attending Thursday-night services at Pentecost Chapel of Praise, the church situated adjacent to the lot where Hicks died, discovered the victim lying on the lot. They phoned Mercer 911 at approximately 7:33 p.m.

When Whited arrived, Hicks was lying on his back, with his legs “tucked up” underneath the rest of his body.

Nearby, the officer said blood pooled around shattered glass and over asphalt, while a metal medicine vial, a white bottle of Tylenol and $1,008 in cash rested at the scene.

In addition to the gunshot wound, Whited testified that there appeared to have been some sort of trauma to Hicks’ knee, and there were apparent tire tracks over the lower parts of his legs — as if his assailant had shot him and run over him in a bid to flee.

An autopsy by the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Hicks was killed by a shot from either a .40-caliber or .45-caliber firearm.

Based upon the tire marks that ran through Hicks’ blood, as well as shattered glass shards that continued out of the parking lot, Whited said officers theorized the suspect fled the lot heading north on North Wickham Avenue.

Officers believe the same shattered glass was present at the scene of Hicks’ homicide, along the route Barnes used to flee toward his apartment, and in the parking lot of his home. They think that glass belonged in the rear-passenger window of a car registered to Barnes’ girlfriend.

Whited said it was Hicks’ wife who first considered Barnes a suspect. She phoned PPD with news that her husband “had been dealing” with a large, black man with dreadlocks, known only to her as “Zo.”

Upon identifying Barnes as a potential suspect, officers asked his probation officer, Krista Ellison, to bring him in for questioning. Ellison phoned Barnes and advised the court Wednesday that Barnes told her he would come to the Mercer County Courthouse by the end of the business day on Feb. 3. He did not arrive.

Whited testified that investigators sought and secured a search warrant for Barnes’ apartment, locating more shattered glass in the parking lot of the apartment building, along with several items of interest inside a nearby dumpster.

Officers retrieved a pair of extra-large sweatpants and a sweatshirt that had been doused in bleach, Whited believes the clothing belonged to Barnes and that the bleach was a bid to cover evidence. In addition, he testified that officers seized a box containing 25 .45-caliber shells and a black leather gun holster a neighbor identified as belonging to Barnes.

The suspect’s cell phone records revealed a 7:18 p.m. phone call from Hicks to Barnes, and a GPS track of the phone traced Barnes to a Microtel on Harper Road in Beckley, where Whited said Barnes spent the night on Feb. 3, before returning to his apartment and facing arrest on Feb. 4.

Although Barnes asked for a lawyer upon hearing his Miranda rights, his girlfriend reportedly talked with police, telling them that Barnes came home at approximately 10 p.m. Feb. 2, roughly 2 1/2 hours after Hicks was shot.

According to Whited, the girlfriend advised officers that Barnes told her “some stuff had went down,” and that they needed to leave the apartment to dispose of evidence.

The couple then reportedly took her 1996 Toyota Avalon, with a shattered rear passenger window, and headed toward Beckley.

There, the girlfriend allegedly told officers they attempted to locate a glass-repair company to replace the back window investigators believe Barnes shot through to kill Hicks.

Safelite Auto Glass company confirmed that Barnes had made arrangements to have the car window replaced on Tuesday, Feb. 6, but that appointment didn’t happen.

Instead, the girlfriend told investigators that Barnes indicated her car was stolen and that they had to dispose of it.

“They took the car to a crusher located at Midway, W.Va.,” Whited said.

Officers quickly rushed to the scrap yard, only to discover the car had already been crushed. Crews at the yard, however, were able to remove the top of the car, where Whited said officers took additional glass samples to compare to the shattered glass found along North Wickham Avenue, as well as on Hicks’ clothing.

Whited said officers also found what appeared to be a bullet hole in the rubber weather strip that should have surrounded the rear window of Howard’s car.

Under cross-examination by defense counsel Harold Wolfe and Ward Morgan, Whited told the court that no eyewitnesses have reported seeing Hicks’ shooting. He also advised that although ammunition likely matching the caliber used to kill Hicks was located in Barnes’ residence, a potential murder weapon has yet to be identified.

Barnes, who sat flanked by his two attorneys Wednesday, remained shackled throughout the preliminary hearing, but court officers released his right hand, which allowed the defendant to take several notes during the proceeding.

Several times, he called Morgan’s attention to the written messages, one time even tapping his pen against the yellow legal paper to get the attorney’s attention.

When Ellison, his probation officer took the stand, Barnes appeared adamant about some parts of her testimony, particularly when she discussed a November drug test that indicated Barnes was under the influence of codeine, a narcotic drug that can be included in cough syrup.

As his defense counsel questioned whether Ellison ordered a second drug test to determine the substance flagged in his original test, Barnes looked at Morgan and said vehemently, “She better not lie.”

Ellison confirmed that she did order a second test to identify the potentially intoxicating substance and learned that it was codeine. Although Barnes never produced a prescription for the drug, Ellison said he told her he was taking cough syrup for a cold.

Ellison testified that she had been supervising Barnes’ probation since June 2011,  when he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a Schedule II, non-narcotic substance.  In exchange for his guilty plea, Barnes was sentenced to three years of probation.

Since then, however, he has been charged with robbery, conspiracy and first-degree murder.

As such, his probation has been revoked, and Judge Omar Aboulhosn denied bond on the murder charge.

Wednesday, Barnes faced another request for probation revocation, as he was arraigned on charges of robbery and conspiracy in a case unrelated to Hicks’ shooting.

In this instance, Barnes stands accused of acting with an accomplice to rob a man at gunpoint.

That alleged crime reportedly took place inside the same white Toyota Avalon Whited found crushed a few weeks ago, and the two assailants are charged with wielding firearms to get cash from a man who believed he was helping to plan a New Year’s Eve party with the alleged robbers.

A preliminary hearing has not yet been set on the robbery charges.

Barnes was remanded to Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, pending further court proceedings.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.