She did everything a domestic violence victim is told to do. It didn’t stop him.
Leona Edwards did everything a domestic violence victim is told to do — she reported the abuse, she let police search her home, she filed for a protective order. None of it stopped her ex, Cory Lee Callen, from lying in wait outside her home in Princeton, West Virginia and shooting her seven times on January 4th, 2024.
In September 2026, a Mercer County jury convicted Callen of first-degree murder — and refused to recommend mercy, a decision that under West Virginia’s unusual post-1965 sentencing law makes life without parole mandatory. This is the full story: the domestic violence history, the manhunt, the trial, and the jury’s “mercy phase” verdict.
One detail worth noting: Callen had already been indicted for choking and restraining Leona seven months before he killed her, and was out on conditions — not in custody — when troopers say he carried out the threats he had already made.
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, help is available, confidentially and free, through the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233).
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Sources
WVVA, “Man convicted of first-degree murder in Mercer County,” Sept. 25, 2026. WV MetroNews, “Mercer County jury convicts Bluefield man on murder charge,” Sept. 26, 2026. Bluefield Daily Telegraph, “Jury convicts Mercer County man of first-degree murder.” Lootpress, “Mercer County jury convicts Cory Callen of first-degree murder; jury recommends no mercy.” WCHS-TV, coverage of the charges filed in connection with the fatal shooting. Cory Lee Callen’s booking photograph was released by Mercer County authorities and widely republished in coverage of this case, via Bluefield Daily Telegraph. West Virginia Encyclopedia (e-WV), “Capital Punishment” entry, for background on the state’s “mercy phase” sentencing law.
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