Greene man charged with homicide in 2025 death
Nemacolin woman died from assault injuries
A Nemacolin man is charged with homicide after he was accused of severely assaulting a woman he lived with in May 2025.
Several witnesses told investigators that Jerome Rafail, 51, had a history of assaulting 31-year-old Shayla Black before the assaults that led to her death in May, according to court documents.
Charges against Rafail were filed Tuesday with District Judge Lee Watson.
Police said Black had numerous visible injuries, a broken jaw and significant wounds on both shins when they responded to the report of a woman who had stopped breathing at 258 Grant St. in Nemacolin during the early morning hours of May 19.
An autopsy on Black conducted by Dr. Jennifer Hammers concluded that Black had died from complications stemming from acute, subacute and remote blunt force trauma of head, neck, torso and extremities. Those complications included pulmonary thromboembolism from deep vein thrombosis, the complaint said.
The manner of Black’s death had been homicide, Hammers concluded.
In charging documents, police said Rafail had offered shifting times and explanations for Black’s injuries, first attributing her black eye to an assault by another man and then claiming she had fallen down stairs. Rafail told police that Black suffered injuries at a Diaz Avenue residence over several days leading up to her death, according to court documents.
Rafail is charged with homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping to inflict injury/terror, obstruction of justice, unlawful restraint, abuse of a corpse, false imprisonment, unsworn falsification to authorities and simple assault.
Rafail was arraigned Wednesday afternoon, and his preliminary hearing before Watson is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 16 at noon.