'Shockingly, shockingly reckless': Morgan sentenced to 6 years for fatal shooting of wife

A Bucyrus man will spend six years in prison after pleading guilty to a reckless homicide charge in connection with the May 2022 shooting death of his wife.

Anthony Morgan, 53, pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless homicide, a third-degree felony, in Crawford County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday. The charge includes a specification that a firearm was used in committing the crime.

Jennifer Morgan, 49, died after being shot on May 18, 2022, in their home at 627 W. Mansfield St. Bucyrus police and firefighters were called to the home at 2:07 a.m. that day, according previous reports. They found Jennifer Morgan with a gunshot wound to the head. She was treated at the scene by firefighters and then taken to Avita Health System-Bucyrus Hospital, where she died. Jennifer Morgan worked at the Crawford County Council on Aging, where she was the home care coordinator.

The charge in the case alleged her husband recklessly discharged a weapon, Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall said previously.

"It was definitely a case where, as a prosecutor, you have to look at what you can prove," Crall said after the hearing. "That's what the facts showed us in this case ... and we believe that was the proper charge."

After saying the accused's actions that night were "shockingly, shockingly reckless," Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold on Wednesday sentenced Anthony Morgan to the maximum sentence possible under Ohio law: 36 months in prison on the reckless homicide charge and three years for the firearm specification, for a total of six years. The judge also ordered Morgan to surrender two firearms, a magazine and ammunition.

'Please give her justice,' friend asks the court

After Morgan entered his guilty plea, Leuthold gave friends and family members of Jennifer Morgan an opportunity to speak.

Tracye Nolen, a close friend, told the judge Jennifer Morgan was a kind-hearted person.

"She didn't deserve this. She loved her family ... and I thought he loved her, too," Nolen told the court, her voice sinking to a whisper. "Please give her justice. She's a good person."

Nolen said she grew up with Jennifer and they shared much. "My life's not the same. It's not the same," she said, crying.

Jennifer Morgan's daughter, Nichole Dewiel, spoke next, saying she thought "this was a lie."

"You don't point a gun; everyone knows that you do not play with a gun; you definitely don't point it at your wife's head," she said. "We are all — our entire world is done. We miss my mom. Everything's different, just because a selfish man took her life."

Dewiel said she had begged her mother to leave Anthony Morgan, "and she was getting ready to leave him; she wanted to divorce him."

"That day, I'm positive, I feel it with all my heart that she was going to try to leave him, and instead he wanted to make this big game," she said. "He wanted to shoot her because he couldn't stand to have somebody leave him. Because he's that selfish."

"She's always been nothing but love," Dewiel said. "She didn't deserve that."

Defense attorney says Morgan showed 'genuine remorse'

Anthony Morgan's attorney, James Mayer III of Mansfield, said his client has accepted responsibility for his actions.

"Not only has he accepted responsibility for his reckless handling of a firearm ... he's also demonstrated genuine remorse to me, at least in my opinion," Mayer said. "He's very, very demonstrative, as far as uncontrolled crying, tears, etc."

Mayer said he expressed concerns about the defendant's mental wellbeing and encouraged him to seek grief counseling.

"He's going to have to live with the consequences of that recklessness for the rest of his life, and it starts with this prison sentence," Mayer said.

After listening to both sides, Leuthold told the victims he was "extremely moved" by their statements.

"I know you're going through a lot of pain; it's the kind of pain that's never going to fully heal," he said.

"You've asked me for justice; I plan on giving it to you. But there's a limit to what I can do," the judge said. "There's a charge for reckless homicide with a three-year specification in front of me; the maximum sentence I can give in this case is six years."

Leuthold explained that as the judge, he does not have the authority to change the charge.

"There's no question on that night that Mr. Morgan handled a firearm in an extremely reckless, dangerous manner with actually no regard for safety of anyone and I think it just runs counter to everything that we know about gun safety and he was ... shockingly, shockingly reckless."

Anthony Morgan, whose trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 1, will receive credit for 368 days served in jail prior to sentencing, Leuthold said. After release, he will be subject to post-release control.

ggoble@gannett.com

419-559-7263

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Bucyrus man sentenced to 6 years in prison for fatally shooting wife