By Lyra Bordelon
The second of three indictments for the 2018 murders of Chasity Faye Hamm and Shaela Lynn McCoy Abren has come to a resolution in the Greenbrier County Circuit Court on Friday, November 6, with a plea deal between Amanda Serreno and the Greenbrier County Prosecutor’s Office.
In the October 2019 Greenbrier County Grand Jury indictments, Serreno was charged with one count of murder in relation to the death of Chasity Faye Hamm, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempt to kill or injure by poison, and concealment of a deceased human body. Serreno was also indicted with accessory after the fact to Shaela Lynn McCoy Abren’s murder.
According to a plea and conviction order entered by Greenbrier County Circuit Court Judge Robert Richardson on November 6, Serreno plead guilty to:
• Attempted murder
• Conspiracy to commit murder
• Accessory after the fact to murder
• Possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, methamphetamine.
As a result of the plea, the state agreed to drop several of the previous indictments, including charges for murder, attempt to kill or injure by poison, concealment of a deceased human body, and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
In January 2018, Greenbrier County Sheriff Bruce Sloan and Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Via called a press conference announcing that the investigation into the murder of Shaela Lynn McCoy Abren led to the discovery of the murder of Chastity Faye Hamm. Abren was found on Anthony Road near Blue Bend behind an uninhabited house around January 18, 2018. During the investigation on Saturday, January 20, the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office discovered a second body in “a shallow grave in a wooded, mountainous area of the national forest property near Blue Bend.”
The subsequent investigation led to murder indictments against multiple individuals, including Serreno, Thomas Dunbar, and Yvette Chapman. Although the plea agreement drops the murder charge, this is the second plea deal for those indicted for these crimes – Dunbar previously plead guilty to Abren’s murder, with another ongoing case against him for his alleged role in Hamm’s death.
Serreno is currently being held in Southern Regional Jail.