NITRO, W.Va. (WCHS) — UPDATED: 4:00 p.m., 2/22/26
A man who was arrested early Sunday morning after police said he was naked inside the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort is now a suspect in a murder investigation in McDowell County.
Thomas Jeffrey Lawson Jr., 33, of Iaeger, is currently incarcerated at the South Central Regional Jail after being charged with indecent exposure for the casino incident. He is also being held on a first-degree murder charge out of McDowell County, according to jail records.
McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy confirmed to Eyewitness News that Lawson, Jr., is a suspect in an investigation where deputies discovered a deceased man in the Trail Hollow area near Iaeger.
Muncy said deputies responded to a welfare check around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and discovered the body. Muncy did not say how the man died and did not identify him to allow family members time to make necessary notifications.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under active investigation by the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office,” the sheriff said.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, Lawson, Jr. allegedly walked up to a Nitro police officer completely naked inside the casino in Nitro around 1:00 a.m. Sunday. Lawson allegedly gave the officer the middle finger, shouted an obscenity at him, and ran off.
Lawson, Jr. was tackled to the ground and taken into custody, the complaint said, adding that he was taken to a nearby bathroom and redressed before being taken out of the casino.
A man was arrested in Nitro after he was allegedly found walking naked through a casino, court records said.
Thomas Jeffrey Lawson Jr., 33, of Iaeger, was charged with indecent exposure, according to a criminal complaint filed to Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
The complaint said that around 1 a.m. Sunday, Lawson allegedly walked up to a Nitro police officer completely naked inside the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro. Lawson allegedly gave the officer the middle finger, shouted an obscenity at him and ran off, according to the complaint.
Lawson was promptly tackled to the ground and taken into custody, the complaint said, adding that he was taken to a nearby bathroom and redressed before being taken out of the casino.
Lawson is currently being held on a $750 bond at South Central Regional Jail.
National Headline
