Michael Allen Groch

WELLSBURG — A Wellsburg man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of a Mingo Junction man at his workplace on Friday afternoon.

Michael Allen Groch, 39, of 301 Fowler Hill Road, is being held without bond at the West Virginia Northern Regional Jail for allegedly shooting 58-year-old Kerry Casto of Mingo Junction, at the small trucking company garage on Fowler Hill Road where Casto worked.

Brooke County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Doug Mills confirmed responding officers attempted to render aid to Casto, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mills said the victim’s body has been transported to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

He said the sheriff’s department was working to determine a motive for the shooting.

According to the criminal complaint filed against Groch, co-workers at the garage said Casto had been working on a tractor trailer there when they heard shots fired and found Groch sitting in the parking lot and tossing a pistol away from himself.

The complaint states the workers detained Groch until police arrived.

A preliminary hearing for Groch has been scheduled for Monday in Brooke County Magistrate Court.