Opinion: Choice: Protect crime victims or support killers
We are victims and victims' family members who have been harmed by Senate Bill 256, a new Ohio law that mandates frequent parole chances for felons. On March 9, SB256 freed Mincey Meece, who murdered Stella Ellison in Elmwood Place. Stella's family is devastated. We write to explain the horrors SB256 has caused and why it needs to change.
In 1995, Meece, 16, and Therisa Frasure plotted to rob and murder Stella to fund a trip to Nashville. In Nashville, they planned to use hostages to meet singer Reba McEntire. Meece bashed Stella's head with a clock. When Stella, 86, remained conscious, Meece forced a pillow against her face and pressed with all her weight to smother her. She smothered Stella for about 15 minutes. Meece received 40 years to life.
Then came SB256, which requires earlier parole eligibility for juvenile criminals. As a result, Stella's family endured Meece's parole hearing 15 years earlier than expected.
Stella's family fought hard to prevent her killer's release. The fight was excruciating, opening wounds they thought would be closed for another 15 years. Ultimately, Stella's murderer was granted parole and will be released in May.
Meece isn't the only criminal SB256 benefits. There's Clarence Coleman, who beat two people to death, including Moisey Shtrom, whose head he bashed with a brick. He was denied parole recently.
Billy Wayne Smith kidnapped, tortured, and murdered Kevin Burks. His parole hearing is in April.
Gavon Ramsay and Jacob Larosa were originally given life without parole for murders of elderly women. Ramsay strangled Margaret Douglas, 98, to death and sexually assaulted her body. He kept serial killer biographies and fantasized about rape and murder. Jacob Larosa tried to rape Marie Belcastro, 94, and beat her to death with a heavy metal flashlight.
Brogan Rafferty and his co-defendant "Craigslist Killer" Richard Beasley murdered three men and attempted to murder one other man.
Clinton Dickens and his co-defendant Richard Cooey kidnapped and raped Dawn McCreery, 20, and Wendy Offredo, 21. To prevent Dawn and Wendy from identifying Dickens, the rapists beat them with a nightstick and strangled them with shoelaces. SB256 gave Dickens a parole hearing in January.
These are just some SB256 beneficiaries.
Ohio lawmakers had no business retroactively reducing these murderers' sentences. Ohio politicians who supported SB256 were not aware of all the evidence considered by the judges who sentenced said murderers. Many lawmakers who voted for SB256 had never even heard of them. But there is one juvenile murderer Ohio lawmakers were all aware of, whose sentence they didn't want to alter.
SB256 requires parole eligibility for almost all juvenile criminals. It only allows life without parole for juveniles who are the principal offender in three or more murders. This triple homicide exception was added for one reason – to prevent SB256 from making Chardon High School shooter T.J. Lane parole-eligible. Lane was sentenced to life without parole for a school shooting he committed at 17. The shooting, which claimed three victims' lives, is perhaps Ohio's most notorious offense committed by a juvenile.
Before SB256, Ohio lawmakers had attempted to pass other bills aimed at requiring parole chances for juvenile offenders. Unlike SB256, however, these bills would have made Lane parole-eligible. Massive public outrage arose from lawmakers' efforts to require parole hearings for the especially notorious Lane. As a result, the bills failed.
When SB256 was introduced, it included a triple homicide exception to avoid the controversy caused by the previous juvenile parole bills. The triple homicide exception sends a clear message to Ohio victims – we only matter if our cases are notorious enough. It was deeply inappropriate for Ohio lawmakers to carve out an exception for Ohio's most infamous juvenile criminal, while condemning victims of other juvenile criminals to suffer.
Ohio law cannot be compassionate to victims while having SB256 as is. Lawmakers must choose – protect victims or support killers like Meece.
This op-ed was signed by: Clarence Ellison, brother of murder victim Stella Ellison; Vealer Ellison, grandson of Stella Ellison; Valerie Germain, granddaughter of Stella Ellison; Portia Phelps, granddaughter of Stella Ellison; Debbie Yates, granddaughter of Stella Ellison; Brian Kirk, grandson of murder victim Marie Belcastro; Tim Maust, father of murder victim T.J. Maust; Patty Sacco, great-niece of murder victim Margaret Douglas; and Deb Pauley Bruce, sister of murder victim David Pauley.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: Choice: Protect crime victims or support killers
