Ross County inmate found guilty of cellmate's murder

CHILLICOTHE― A Ross County inmate was found guilty of murder by a jury on Wednesday in Ross County Common Pleas Court after an hour of deliberation.

Darryl King, 35, of Eaton, was found guilty of beating his cellmate on Feb. 13, 2022, at the Ross Correctional Institution. The victim, Alex Sapp of Newark, taken to Adena Regional Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries on Feb. 14.

The second day of the two-day trial included testimony from Susan Brown, a forensic pathologist at the Montgomery Coroner' Office, who performed Sapp's autopsy. She gave insight into his extensive injuries, including a fractured nose and a brain hemorrhage.

During the autopsy, Brown said Sapp had a patterned abrasion on his lip, with that same pattern appearing on him multiple times on his head and face, implying that he was hit with the same object multiple times.

Defense attorney Jeff Blosser, asked Brown if the injury could be from repeated blows from a piece of furniture, to which Brown said yes.

Brown said it would require “a significant force” to cause Sapp’s injuries. The blunt force trauma caused two separate skull fractures. Brown said this type of injury is often seen in car crash victims or those who take a large fall, like from a flight of stairs.

Sherri Wells, an Ohio State Highway Patrol Investigator, said that King had no injuries on his body when she went to the prison on Feb. 14. He displayed red marks on his skin, which Wells described as pressure marks. She said she was searching for "anything at all that indicated struggling," but found nothing.

He did, however, have injuries to his hands and knuckles.

Wells collected Sapp’s clothing as evidence and described the shirt as “so saturated in blood” that she had to hang the shirt to dry.

During her investigation, Wells said she focused on King’s shoes that he was wearing at the time of the incident because she believed that the marks on Sapp’s face matched the pattern on King’s shoe.

On Tuesday, Lt. Ben Murphy testified there was blood on the top of the defendant's right shoe. However, there was no blood on the sole of the shoe. Wells noted that the defendant had to walk through the snow almost immediately after the incident to go to another holding cell, which may have inadvertently cleaned blood off of his shoe.

King took the stand and began his testimony by clarifying that the small face tattoo by his eye is a cross to honor a passed family member.

The defendant was serving 36 months in prison for assault, domestic violence and possession. At the time of the incident, he had 28 days left in prison.

Sapp and King had been cellmates for nine days before the incident took place. King admitted that the pair did not have a good relationship.

King said the day of the incident, Sapp had smoked synthetic marijuana, also known as K2, on three separate occasions that he witnessed. During the autopsy, Brown said the lab tested Sapp for drugs but did not test for K2.

The defendant said that Sapp was trying to fight him in their cell over an argument about the bottom bunk. King said he tried to de-escalate the situation and stay out of Sapp's space. However, while in bed, King said Sapp grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of bed.

King said he was choked out from behind multiple times, passing out at one point. He said he was, "scared, in a panic." He said he was kicking the cell door and yelling for help as Sapp attacked him.

Prosecutor Jeffrey Marks pointed out the height difference between the cellmates, with King being 6-foot-1 and Sapp being 5-foot-9, stating that it would have been difficult for Sapp to choke King from behind.

King said that he then kicked and punched Sapp in self-defense until Sapp fell unconscious.

Marks asked King when he "got the upper hand," and King responded, "I never had the upper hand."

Marks also asked "Have you seen the photographs?" referring to photos of Sapp's facial injuries.

During Tuesday's testimony, Correctional Officer Kaitlin Truitt testified that King said his cellmate fell off the bunk after the incident. King admitted to lying to Truitt but said he was scared of being pepper sprayed.

He said, "I was in shock and felt like my whole life was over," when he was later told that his cellmate was pronounced deceased. Blosser said the defendant thought of his three children and his elderly mother when he heard that Sapp was dead, hoping he could go home to his family.

Marks questioned how the jury can trust King's testimony since he admitted to lying in the past to correctional officers about what happened.

During closing arguments, Blosser argued that no one knows what truly happened except King.

"Darryl King was in the fight of his life," Blosser said. "Your ability to defend yourself does not stop at the prison gates... He doesn't know when help will come. What do you do? You have two choices: you fight back, or you submit."

Blosser further argued that King would not have done this since he was so close to being released from prison.

Marks said a possible motive for King's actions was that he wanted to stay in prison since he admitted that he struggles with drug abuse when he is not incarcerated. However, King disagreed and said that he was "cocky" to be released.

Marks also added that even if King did act in self-defense, the injuries were greatly disproportionate to the danger.

King will be sentenced next month.

Megan Becker is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. Call her at 740-349-1106, email her at mbecker@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @BeckerReporting.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Ross County inmate found guilty of cellmate's murder