Shannon Patrick Overstreet (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation), Angel Nichole Overstreet (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Prosecutors in West Virginia are seeking to prevent a 40-year-old man accused of killing his 3-month-old daughter from getting married, reasoning that his intended betrothed is also a state’s witness who could not be made to testify against him should she become his wife.
The issue came up during a Tuesday hearing for Shannon Overstreet, who is currently in jail awaiting trial for murder, concealment of a deceased human body, and death of a child by parent, guardian or custodian by child abuse in the death of young Angel Nichole Overstreet, who has been missing since 2021 and is presumed dead. Overstreet formally entered a plea of not guilty during the hearing.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, authorities have alleged that Shannon Overstreet killed Angel and then drove to Kentucky to dispose of her body. The infant was first reported missing on May 25, 2021, with authorities being unable to confirm her whereabouts anytime after May 8, 2021.
According to courtroom footage from Tuesday’s hearing posted by Huntington, West Virginia, NBC affiliate WSAZ, prosecutors learned from recorded jailhouse phone conversations that Overstreet is seeking to get married next month on Valentine’s Day to a woman who prosecutors plan to call as a witness during his murder trial.
“We’ve picked up a lot of traffic that Mr. Overstreet intends to marry (redacted). If he can get her to do that — she is a witness in this particular matter,” Prosecuting Attorney Philip Morrison told the court. “Now, I’m not saying that it’s his intention to try to cut her off from us as a witness, but that would be the practical effect of it.”
While Morrison said there was no evidence that Overstreet wanted to get married to make the witness “unavailable” to the state, he also requested that the judge step in so the state doesn’t run into problems with spousal immunity.
“Well, I don’t want to stand in the way of true love and all that, but during the pendency of these proceedings we have that spousal immunity — spousal privilege statute, and if they get married, then I can’t use her as a witness,” Morrison said.
However, Cabell County Circuit Court Judge Paul T. Farrell was skeptical about the proposition that he even had the power to grant the prosecution’s request, asking the state for case law that “says I have the power to stop a wedding.”
“I do not have any,” Morrison replied. “I did discuss this with the head of DHS (Dept. of Health and Human Services) and he said, ‘an order is an order and if you get me one, we’ll follow it.’ But I don’t have any (case law).”
The judge, who also denied Overstreet’s request for bond, set another court date to further discuss that matter for Jan. 23.
Overstreet is currently serving a sentence of up to 10 years after pleading to one count of malicious wounding for attacking his mother inside her home in 2021. As previously reported by Law&Crime, police say the March 2021 attack on his mother consisted of him dragging her by the hair across the yard while repeatedly hitting her and then leaving her lying on the floor.
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