Cleveland man indicted in relation to death of woman who grew up in Medina

A Cleveland man has been indicted in relation to the death of a woman who grew up in Medina and was missing for four days last year before her body was found inside an abandoned home in Cleveland's Slavic Village.

Anastasia Hamilton, 25, grew up in Medina but had been living in Cleveland.

Authorities said a security camera last spotted Hamilton with a man in the Terminal Tower parking garage at 10:15 p.m. May 21. Authorities at the time said that her car was still in the garage and it appeared she was with the man under "suspicious" circumstances.

Her body was found May 25. Beacon Journal reporting partner News 5 Cleveland said Hamilton was found on a couch inside the abandoned house in the 3600 block of East 54th Street, with lacerations and abrasions to her head and torso.

According to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office, Hamilton's cause of death was "acute intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and gabapentin." Her death was ruled an accident.

According to the indictment, filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Dec. 28, Kenneth Banville, 33, of Cleveland caused Hamilton’s death, which was “the proximate result of Kenneth Banville committing or attempting to commit the felony offense of Corrupting another with drugs/Aggravated Trafficking in Drugs/Possessing Criminal Tools/Drug Possession/Permitting drug abuse.”

Body of Anastasia Hamilton found:Body of Anastasia Hamilton, former Medina resident, found in Cleveland's Slavic Village

Banville was indicted on 16 charges: involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony (the substance is listed as fentanyl); two counts of trafficking, both fourth-degree felonies; three counts of trafficking, all fifth-degree felonies; permitting drug abuse, a fifth-degree felony; possessing criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony (the tools are listed as a digital scale and drug press); two counts of having weapons under disability, both third-degree felonies; and three counts of drug possession, all fifth-degree felonies.

In July, Banville was charged with gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, in relation to Hamilton’s case. Also in July, he was charged with escape, a third-degree felony.

Banville, who is currently in jail on a $100,000 bond, has a pretrial set in his ongoing cases at 9 a.m. Jan. 25. His assigned attorney is Tom Shaughnessy.

Who was Anastasia Hamilton?

Hamilton’s mother, Melissa Romanello, told News 5 Cleveland that her daughter worked at K&D Properties in Terminal Tower and suspected she parked her car there for the free parking, since she was an employee. She said she talked to her daughter the night she was last seen via text, and nothing seemed unusual.

Romanello later learned her daughter sent texts to friends early the next day, around 1 a.m., that said "she didn’t feel well, her head was pounding, she was hungry and wanted to go home."

Romanello told News 5 Cleveland that her daughter was a loving and generous daughter, sister and friend. She had dreams of going back to school, becoming a real estate agent and was thriving at her job at K&D Properties.

“This past year she was living her very, very best life,” Romanello told the Cleveland station.

Anastasia Hamilton:Missing woman last seen in Cleveland parking garage has ties to Medina County

Past drug-related charges for Kenneth Banville

Banville has several prior drug-related charges in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. All of the information below comes from court records.

In 2021, he was indicted on several charges of drug possession and trafficking, along with charges of possessing criminal tools, having weapons while under disability and identity fraud.

In 2019, he pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony trafficking offense, a third-degree felony trafficking offense, a third-degree felony charge of having weapons while under disability and a fifth-degree felony charge of possessing criminal tools.

He was ordered to forfeit to the state a 9mm handgun, $3,993, five cell phones, packing materials, a grinder and ammunition.

The 2019 and 2021 cases remain open.

In 2018, he pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree felony charge of attempted trafficking and a fifth-degree felony charge of possession of criminal tools. He was ordered to forfeit to the state a digital scale and $80.

He was sentenced to six months on both counts, running concurrently, at the Lorain Correctional Institution. He was released three months later and placed on one year of community control.

In 2017, he pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor charge of attempted drug possession and was sentenced to two years of community control, which he violated later that year. He tested positive for fentanyl.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge of corrupting another with drugs. He was sentenced to six months in the Lorain Correctional Institution, but a month later, he was released and placed on one year of community control.

He violated his community control twice in 2013. He was ordered to nine months of inpatient treatment at the Ed Keating Center.

In 2009, he pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony trafficking charge with a schoolyard specification, with a requirement that he forfeit to the state $3,365. He was sentenced to one year of community control.

He violated community control twice in that case, both times in 2010. He was sentenced to six months in the Lorain Correctional Institution.

Also in 2009, he pleaded guilty to two fifth-degree felony trafficking charges and was sentenced to one year of community control, with the requirement to successfully complete an in-patient treatment program.

Two months later, he tested positive for drugs, violating his community control, and he was ordered to be placed in Oriana House “for the longest term possible.”

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kenneth Banville indicted in relation to death of Anastasia Hamilton