‘Just stabbed him once’: Man charged in Powell Co. murder says he ‘just snapped’

POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - A man charged with stabbing another man to death is telling us about the crime from jail.

Early Sunday morning, police were called to a home on Frames Branch Road, where they say they found 29-year-old Jason Smith dead in the kitchen.

Devin A. Hall is charged with killing Smith. Hall is being held in the Powell County Detention Center.

We were able to speak with Hall in the Powell County Detention Center

Hall: “Just stabbed him once.”

Pendleton: “You stabbed him once?”

Hall: “That I remember anyway. Hard to remember anything.”

Hall says he “just snapped” early Sunday morning when Smith and his ex-girlfriend came to his home on Frames Branch Road.

Hall: “They pulled up before I did. So they were already there. Sitting outside when I pulled up from work. Was just talking and stuff.”

Police say Smith died of a single stab wound.

Hall tells us from jail he fears he will never get to see his 9-year-old and 5-year-old children again because of what’s happened.

Hall: “My life is over. Ain’t nothing coming. I don’t have the girls in my life. I have no life.”

Hall was arrested early Sunday following what neighbors described as police flooding the area to look for him.

The murder happened just over a week after Hall was arrested on a burglary 3rd charge. According to court papers, Hall was accused of chasing his ex-girlfriend into the manager’s office of a gas station to get away from him. He is accused of unlawfully trying to get to her to attack her. He ran off when told the police were coming. He was released from jail the same day on “release on recognizance.”

Police also charged 56-year-old Tonya McKinney with complicating to commit murder. A state police citation says that she provided some kind of liquid in an attempt to burn the body. She is also charged with failing to call the police about the situation.

Police say Smith’s body was discovered after 3 Sunday morning, and Hall was arrested about seven hours later.

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