South Union robbery suspect identified as man charged in West Virginia homicide

A man accused of homicide in West Virginia and attempted homicide in Washington County also allegedly committed an armed robbery in South Union Township, Fayette County, in the midst of a weeklong crime spree.
Brian Edward Lyon II of Vine Street in Monongahela was identified through surveillance footage as the suspect in the robbery of Metro PCS on Morgantown Road at about 3:45 p.m. Sept. 26. Fifteen minutes before the robbery, he allegedly pointed a gun at two women and threatened them.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in his case, he stole $250 from the Metro PCS cash register while brandishing a gun at an employee and fled the scene. Police connected the cases through witness descriptions and surveillance footage. The women he allegedly threatened knew Lyon. He reportedly told them he was wanted for attempted homicide, ordered them out of his car and told them he “was not playing.”
On Sunday, he allegedly killed Christopher W. Moses on Lanham Lane in Fairmont, Marion County, West Virginia and shot Dawn Smith. Smith survived the attack. He then allegedly stole Moses’ pickup truck. Monongahela police said Lyon set the truck on fire behind the Avalon Motor Inn along Interstate 70 in Somerset, Washington County, then stole another vehicle from a nearby garage.
On Sept. 23, he allegedly stabbed Melvin Gray, 36, on Dolly Lane near Finleyville in his neck, back and chest. Gray survived his injuries.
Lyon was arrested at Budget Inn in Rostraver Township Tuesday by a state police Special Emergency Response Team and Monongahela police.
Lyon has not yet been arraigned on his charges in Fayette County. In the armed robbery, he is charged with robbery, possession of a firearm prohibited, firearms not to be carried without a license, theft, receiving stolen property, possession of a weapon and simple assault.