Joshua Kevin Deel Charged With Murdering His Ex-Wife, Shawn Deel, and Her Two Children, Abigale and Dekota Sloan

 

Joshua Kevin Deel Is Accused of Stabbing His Ex-Wife and Her Two Children to Death

Joshua Kevin Deel of West Virginia is facing three counts of first-degree murder following the deaths of his ex-wife and her two children in Lesage.

The victims were 39-year-old Shawn Deel, 18-year-old Abigale Sloan, and 16-year-old Dekota Sloan.

On July 21, 2026, Cabell County deputies responded to a home on Hickory Grove Road shortly after 5 a.m. Inside, they discovered all three victims stabbed to death.

According to the criminal complaint, Deel allegedly admitted that before the killings he placed his cellphone beneath a bedroom door to secretly photograph one of the victims.

When he was confronted, prosecutors say an argument erupted. Neighbors later reported hearing Deel screaming expletives before the house suddenly became silent.

Deel himself called 911, initially claiming that he was being attacked. Responding deputies reportedly found him lying face down outside the residence with minor superficial knife wounds. He was treated at a hospital and then taken into custody.

This was not Deel's first serious encounter with the criminal justice system. According to news reports, he had previously served prison time for a 2011 first-degree robbery conviction after holding a knife to a worker's neck. He had received a 30-year sentence in that case.

On July 30, Deel waived his preliminary hearing, sending the murder case forward for presentation to a grand jury.

This case remains pending. Deel has been charged, not convicted, and the allegations against him must be proven in court.

But three people are dead, and their names deserve to remain at the center of the record.

Shawn Deel. Abigale Sloan. Dekota Sloan. A mother and her two children were stabbed to death inside their home. Whatever happens next in court, they cannot become footnotes beneath the fucking name of the man accused of killing them.