Cold Case Task Force Takes On 2005 ‘Prom Night Murders’

In a nation many say has become desensitized to violent crime, the brutal, 2005 murders of four Huntington teenagers was shocking enough to make national news.

On NPR’s Day To Day, host Alex Chadwick told listeners that two of the victims had gone to their high school prom that night. “Police think these killings are linked to Detroit drug dealers who sell crack cocaine in Huntington,” he said.

No arrests have been made in the 21 years since then. But Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, hopes that could soon change.

“Huntington in a way is a small town and I’ve lived here my whole life and grew up about a block and a half from where these murders occurred,” Woelfel said. “It’s just been a tragedy beyond any description for these families, for these young people, and really the community. And it’s just always been in my mind that these folks deserve some justice, some limited closure.”

After the prom at Huntington High School, Michael Dillon and Megan Poston met up with friends Dante Ward and Eddrick Clark and headed back to the house Ward was renting. They were shot to death in front of the house.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Dan Heyman reported at the time, “Police say it’s the worst killing here in at least a generation. Huntington, population 50,000, averages about six murders a year.”

Then-Huntington police Captain Steve Hall told Heyman, “There’s literally dozens of individuals that are in the greater Huntington area dealing crack cocaine.”

Woelfel said that crime was on his mind during the 2026 legislative session, when he supported House Bill 4799, which was signed into law after it passed both chambers. It created the West Virginia State Police Cold Case Task Force, which formally launched in June.

One of its first tasks: delving into the 21-year-old killings of the four young friends. The task force has now formally opened an investigation into the case, Woelfel said.

“I just feel like the resources that would be available to the task force, advances in technology for evidence analysis and just a broader spectrum of resources, it could work,” Woelfel said.

As a former prosecutor, he recognizes that the efforts may not result in a conviction. But he feels the families and the victims are owed this renewed focus.

The Huntington Police Department will retain the case and lead the investigation.