Trial dates set for three suspects in Mikey Benedict beating death
Separate trial dates have for set for three Crestline residents charged in connection with the beating death of Michael "Mikey" Benedict a year ago.
Benedict, a 40-year-old Crawford County native, was found unconscious by Crestline police investigating a 911 report of a beating shortly after 2:20 a.m. Oct. 10, 2021. He died on Nov. 4, 2021.
In November 2021, three people were indicted by a Crawford County grand jury on a charge of aggravated murder and two different murder counts in connection with Benedict's death. Each charge is an unclassified felony.
The trial of Timothy W. Montgomery, 49, is scheduled to begin on Feb. 6, according to records from the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas clerk's website. Jacqueline Dawn Montgomery, 43, will be tried beginning March 6; and Cameron Everett Davis, 31, on April 3.
"On behalf of the state, we feel this is a more accurate way to get justice on behalf of Mikey Benedict," Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall said Tuesday.
Aggravated murder is the "top non-death-penalty" charge in Ohio, Crall explained at the time of their indictments. Under Ohio law, it's defined as causing a death "purposefully, with prior calculation and design," he said. It is punishable by life in prison and up to a $25,000 fine.
The two murder charges cite different sections of Ohio's criminal code. The first alleges each suspect did "purposefully cause the death of another." It's punishable by life in prison. The second relates to "causing the death of another as a proximate result of an offender committing or attempting to commit an offense of violence, in this case, felonious assault," Crall said.
Each suspect also faces a charge of felonious assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to eight years in prison.
Davis' original attorney, Adam Stone, withdrew from the case on Monday, according to court records. Stone announced last week that he intends to resign his law license.
Crall said that's not expected to impact the trial dates.
"He'll have a lawyer appointed if he doesn't retain his own counsel, as he's entitled to under the law," Crall said of Davis. "That's already been set into motion."
Family members reported Benedict died and was revived at the scene, on Union Street between Wiley and Clink streets, then again after being taken to Avita Health System-Galion Hospital.
He was flown to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center for additional treatment. On Oct. 22, family members announced doctors had determined Benedict had suffered irreversible damage to three portions of his brain. He was moved to hospice care a few days later, and died there on Nov. 4.
The father of six lived in Carey with his longtime girlfriend, Taszia Waaland, though he had been staying with his mother, Karen Murr, in Bucyrus at the time of the beating.
After being charged with felonious assault, the Montgomerys were released on bail — angering Benedict's friends and family members, who had multiple rallies and protests last fall demanding "Justice for Mikey."
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Trial dates set for three suspects in beating death of Mikey Benedict
