Billy Shafer
Victim: Sara West, five
Age at time of murder: 16
Crime date: February 14, 1993
Crime location: Zanesville
Crimes: Child molestation, murder of a child, corpse mutilation, conspiracy to commit mass murder, and terroristic threatening
Murder method: Stabbing and shooting
Weapon: Knife and gun
Murder motivation: Satanic ritual
Conviction: Aggravated murder
Sentence: 20 years to life
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution
Sara
Shafer is incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution
Summary
Shafer was an extremely disturbed young man who had an interest in Satanism, sacrificed animals, and desired to become a serial killer. He became acquainted with Sara’s father and agreed to babysit Sara and her three-year-old brother Seth. That fateful night, he killed little Sara after his plans to murder people at a friend’s house didn’t work. Shafer molested Sara, stabbed her, and shot her three times in the head. He also cut open her torso, removed her insides, and cut satanic symbols into parts of her body. Shafer also planned to murder Sara’s father and brother as well, but was prevented from carrying out those additional murders when Sara’s father entered through the wrong door. From in prison, he has continued to threaten to kill Sara’s family, who fear his potential release.
Details
Billy Shafer
Billy Wayne Smith
Victim: Kevin Burks, 25
Age at time of murder: 17, 10 months, and 13 days
Crime date: November 16, 1987
Crime location: Jefferson County
Partner in crime: David Lee Hudson, 24, Peter Martin, 23, and Robert Carpenter, 24
Crimes: Kidnapping, robbery, torture, aggravated murder, and hate crime
Murder method: Stabbing, shooting, and slashing
Murder motivation: Racially motivated
Convictions: Kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and aggravated murder
Sentence: 59 years to life later reduced to 25 years to life by SB 256
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the NorthEast Ohio Correctional Center and eligible for parole in January 2022 due to SB 256
Summary
That fateful night, killers went on a hunt for a specific black man. When they failed to find that specific person, they set their sights on Kevin, who was staying at his grandmother’s house. The killers told Kevin that a friend was in need and lured him to his death in a remote Brush Creek Township location. Smith and his co-defendants drove Kevin to the remote area where they proceeded to torture, stab, and shoot Kevin and slit his throat.
Smith, who was less than two months away from turning 18, was sentenced to life with parole eligibility after 59 years. His parole date was set for 2051. However, SB 256 mandates that juveniles who murder one person be up for parole after no more than 25 years. The murderer’s parole date is now set for 2022.
Details
Billy Wayne Smith
Brogan Rafferty
Murder victims: Ralph Geiger, 56, David Pauley, 51, and Timothy Kern, 47
Attempted murder victim: Scott Davis, 49
Age at time of murders: 16
Crime dates: August 2011-November 2011
Crime location: Akron and a southeast OH farm
Partner in crime: Richard Beasley
Murder method: Gunshots to the victims’ heads
Weapon: Victims were injured and killed with .32 and .38 caliber bullets
Motivation: Robbery
Convictions: Aggravated robbery, kidnapping, attempted aggravated murder, and aggravated murder
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP) later reduced to 25 years to life by SB 256
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Trumbull Correctional Institution and eligible for parole in November 2036 due to SB 256
Summary
Rafferty and his co-defendant Richard Beasley murdered three men and attempted to murder another between August and November of 2011. The serial killers lured the men to their deaths with fake job offers. They targeted men who were desperate for work and down on their luck and who had few family ties that might highlight their disappearance.
“We took him out to the woods on a humid summer’s night … The loud crack echoed and I didn’t hear the thud.”
Poem found on Rafferty’s computer describing the murder of Ralph Geiger
Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison without parole. However, SB 256, which went into effect on April 12, 2021, mandates that all juvenile criminals be eligible for parole unless they are the principal offender in at least three murders.
Timeline
2011
August: Ralph Geiger disappears after leaving for a job on a farm in southern Ohio.
October 9: David Pauley responds to an ad for a job as a farm caretaker. Scott Davis, a self-employed landscaper in South Carolina who wants to move back to Ohio, also responds to a Craigslist ad for a job on a cattle farm.
October 10: Timothy Kern responds to a Craigslist ad for a farm caretaker.
October 22: David speaks with his sister on the phone for the last time.
November 6: Scott meets Rafferty and Beasley. The serial killers lure Scott to a wooded area and attempt to murder him. Scott survives with a gunshot wound to the elbow.
November 13: The killers shoot Timothy in the head and murder him.
November 15: Investigators find David’s mostly naked body in a grave. It is later determined that he was killed by a single gunshot to the head.
November 25: Ralph’s naked body is found in a shallow grave. Timothy’s body is found in the woods behind a vacant mall in Akron. Ralph was killed by a single gunshot to the head, while Timothy suffered five gunshots to the head.
Details
Brogan Rafferty
Christopher Ferrell
Victim: Douglas Lash, 19
Age at time of murder: 17, 11 months, and three weeks
Crime date: February 11, 1992
Crime location: Newton Township
Partners in crime: Several other juveniles
Murder method: Gunshot to the back of the head
Weapon: .380 caliber pistol
Convictions: Attempted aggravated burglary, aggravated burglary, aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping
Sentence: Life with parole
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Lebanon Correctional Institution
Summary of the crime
Christopher Ferrell was the leader of a burglary ring. The group committed a series of armed home invasions, with one of those invasions resulting in a murder. The murder victim was Douglas Lash, 19. As the gang was burglarizing Douglas’s home, he returned and interrupted the crime. Douglas tried to defend his home with a machete. Ferrell, who was one week away from his 18th birthday, forced Douglas into the living room at gun-point, commanded him to kneel and shot him in the head.
Details
Christopher Ferrell
Clinton Dickens
Victims: Wendy Offredo, 21, and Dawn McCreery, 20
Age at time of murders: 17 1/2
Crime date: September 1, 1986
Crime location: Norton, Ohio
Partner in crime: Richard Wade Cooey II, 19, and Kenneth Horonetz, 18 (Horonetz left before the rapes and murders)
Crimes: Kidnapping, robbery, rape, and killing to eliminate witnesses
Murder method: Beating and strangulation
Weapon: Shoe laces and night stick
Murder motivation: Witness elimination
Convictions: Kidnapping, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, rape, and aggravated murder
Sentence: 95 years to life later reduced to 30 years to life by Senate Bill 256
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution and up for parole in October, 2021 due to SB 256
Summary
As Dawn and Wendy were driving to an inn after finishing their waitressing shifts, their car was struck by a large chunk of concrete, which had been thrown by Dickens from an overpass. Dickens, Cooey, and one other man were throwing objects off the overpass to amuse themselves. The three men drove Dawn and Wendy to a shopping mall where Wendy called her mother using a payphone. At the mall, Dickens suggested to the other men that they rob the girls. The men left the mall with Dawn and Wendy, only instead of taking them to the scene of the crash, they kidnapped them. Cooey and Dickens took the girls to an isolated wooded area while the other assailant demanded to be let out and left. Dickens and Cooey robbed and raped both women. Dickens decided that the girls needed to die, as they had heard his first name. The two rapists beat and strangled the women and hid their bodies. They were later apprehended. Cooey received the death penalty and was later executed while Dickens received 95 years to life in prison. Dickens’s sentence was reduced by SB 256.
Details
Clinton Dickens
Daniel Kovarbasich
Victim: Duane Hurley
Age at time of killing: 16
Crime location: North Ridgeville
Crime date: January 22, 2010
Killing method: Stabbing
Motivation: Alleges Hurley sexually abused him
Convictions: Voluntary manslaughter & aggravated assault
Details
Daniel Kovarbasich
Devonere Simmonds
Murder victims: Imran Ashgar, 34, & Quinten Prater, 22
Attempted murder victims: James Norvet, 21, & William Rudd, 39
Age at time of crimes: 17
Crime locations: Central Ohio
Crime date: July 2013
Crimes: Aggravated murder, spree-killing, attempted murder, aggravated robbery, & carjacking
Partners in crime: Nathaniel Brunner, Daniel Durham
Weapon: .22 caliber handgun & a shotgun
Murder method: Gunshots to the head
Murder motivation: Robbery
Convictions: Aggravated robbery, aggravated murder, attempted murder, weapon under disability, & murder
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP) plus 48 years (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Ohio State Penitentiary
Summary
Simmonds, 17, went on a massive violent crime spree involving robbery, carjacking, and murder in the summer of 2013. During the spree, he shot and killed Quinten Prater during a robbery. A couple of days later, he shot and killed store clerk Imran Ashgar during another robbery. In Imran’s case, Simmonds shot the victim in the eye, left, and then returned to shoot the wounded man in the head. He also shot and injured James Norvet and William Rudd. The spree killer was sentenced to LWOP plus 48 years. But because Governor DeWine signed SB 256 into law, his sentence may be reduced to 30 years to life.
Details
Eric Long
Victims: Keith Cobb and Scott Neblett, 25
Accomplices: Fonta Whipple, 26, & Jashawn Clark, 25,
Age at time of murders: 17
Crime date: March 18, 2009
Crime location: Sharonville, Ohio
Crimes: Double murder
Weapon: Firearm
Murder method: Gunshots
Convictions: Felonious assault, discharging a firearm near habitation/school, aggravated murder, weapon under disability, carrying a concealed weapon, & assault
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP) plus 19 years (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Lebanon Correctional Institution
Summary of the crime
Whipple, Clark, and Long got into an argument with Keith Cobb and Scott Neblett at Garage Bar & Grill in Sharonville, OH. They followed the victims and, as they were driving on I-75, emptied their guns into Cobb and Neblett’s car, causing it to veer off the highway and roll over. The victims died of gunshot wounds.
Details
Fred Joseph Jr.
Victim: Officer John Utlak, 26
Age at time of murder: 17
Crime date: December 8, 1982
Crime location: Mineral Ridge
Partner in crime: Randy Fellows, 18
Crimes: Robbery and murder of a police officer
Murder method: Three gunshots including a close-range shot to the head
Weapon: .22 caliber handgun
Convictions: Aggravated murder
Sentence: 30 years to life
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility and eligible for parole in 2021
Summary
Joseph and Fellows, both drug informants, ambushed and murdered Officer Utlak during an undercover narcotics investigation. During a meeting with Officer Utlak, the drug informants shot him, robbed him, and left him to die. Joseph was denied parole in 2016. His next parole hearing was set for 2022. However, because of SB 256, his parole hearing was moved to 2021.
Details
Gavon Ramsay
Victim: Margaret Douglas, 98
Age at time of murder: 17
Crime date: April 9, 2018
Crime location: Wadsworth, Ohio
Murder method: Strangulation
Murder motivation: Thrill & enjoyment
Convictions: Aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, kidnapping, & abuse of a corpse
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP) (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Grafton Correctional Institution
Summary
On April 6, 2018, Ramsay, 17, broke into Margaret’s Wadsworth, Ohio, home. He found the 98-year-old sleeping on the couch and took a video of her. Ramsay, who had been fantasizing about raping and murdering people for months, and who wanted to kill someone to see how it would feel, strangled Margaret to death. Ramsay, who has been diagnosed with sexual sadism disorder, then undressed her dead body and abused her for two hours, taking photographs and videos along the way. Several of the photographs and videos Ramsay took were of a sexual nature. Ramsay then stuffed her body in a closet and left her there. He placed the gruesome photos of the crime in a secret file on his phone so that he could watch them.
Ramsay was sentenced to life without parole. He appealed and his sentence was upheld. However, Ramsay’s LWOP may be reduced by Senate Bill 256. Ramsay is a highly disturbed young man whose notebook contained writings about raping people, fantasies about strangling and killing people, and serial killer biographies. He is a diagnosed sexual sadist.
Details
Jacob LaRosa
Victim: Marie Belcastro, 94
Age at time of murder: 15
Crime location: Niles, Ohio
Crime date: March 31, 2015
Crimes: Aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery, home invasion, & aggravated burglary
Weapon: Heavy metal flashlight
Murder method: Beating to death
Convictions: Aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, & attempted rape
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP) (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution
Summary
LaRosa invaded 94-year-old Marie’s home, attempted to rape her, and beat her to death with a heavy metal flashlight. The beating Marie endured was so severe that her eyes ruptured and the bones in her face and the top of her skull were crushed. LaRosa was a highly disturbed teen, and showed no remorse for the evil crime, even bragging to other inmates about it. He was sentenced to LWOP and his sentence was upheld. However, the Ohio Legislature chose to retroactively change LaRosa’s sentence. The killer could be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Details
Jaden Churchheus and Jordan Buckley
Victim: Victoria Schafer, 44
Ages at time of killing: 16
Crime location: Hocking Hills State Park
Crime date: September 2, 2019
Weapon: 74 pound six foot long log
Killing method: Pushing the log on her
Motivation: Unintentional
Convictions: Guilty pleas to involuntary manslaughter
Sentences: Three years in juvenile detention
Victoria was killed after Buckley and Churcheus pushed a 74 pound six foot long log off a cliff. Victoria, owner of Victoria Schafer Photography, was sitting on the stairs at Old Man’s Cave when the log struck her on the head, broke her spine, crushed her chest, and almost immediately took her life. The mother of four was at the park to take high school portraits. A 19-year-old woman who was with Buckley and Churcheus at the time told investigators that Churchheus had pushed the log and that he and Buckley appeared not to care after learning that the log had killed a woman. Churcheus and Buckley were initially charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless homicide as adults. They later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to three years in juvenile detention. In October 2020, the woman who was with the offenders at the time of the killing was charged with obstruction of justice.
She Was Killed by a Falling Log. Now, a Guilty Plea
Teens charged with murder in woman’s death at Hocking Hills State Park plead not guilty
Third person charged in death of Chillicothe photographer killed at Hocking Hills
Teen says friends rolled log off cliff to be ‘funny,’ now she’s charged in woman’s death
Teens sentenced to 3 years behind bars for Hocking Hills photographer death
Jordan Stewart
Victim: Jane Juergens, 55
Age at time of murder: 16
Crime location: Westerville, Ohio
Crime date: October 20, 2013
Weapon: Knife
Murder method: 26 stab wounds
Convictions: Guilty plea to murder & tampering with evidence
Sentence: 18 years to life
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Madison Correctional Institution & has a parole hearing on September 2031
Summary of the crime
Stewart attacked Jane as she jogged on a trail and stabbed her to death. Jane, the CEO of PeopleGen of Westerville, was stabbed over two dozen times.
Details
Jordyn Wade
Victims: Tyajah Nelson, 18; Daniel Sharp, 26; Angela Harrison, 35; and Michael Ballour, 41. T.N., 16, survived.
Crime location: Columbus, Ohio
Crime date: June 13, 2015
Age at time of murder: 16 & 11 months
Partner in crime: Robert Adams Jr., 28
Crimes: Quadruple murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, home invasion, & aggravated burglary
Weapon: Firearm
Murder method: Gunshots, mostly to the victims’ heads
Murder motivation: Robbery
Convictions: Aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated murder, attempted murder, & weapon under disability
Sentence: 172 1/2 years to life (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Ross Correctional Institution and had a parole hearing scheduled for March 2144
Summary of the crime
Wade participated in a quadruple murder along with one attempted murder during a home invasion robbery. Wade’s 28-year-old partner Robert Adams shot four victims to death and shot and wounded another victim. The survivor, a 16-year-old girl, was able to testify at trial. Wade was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility in 172 1/2 years. Though Wade was not the principal offender or the “trigger man” he had an active role in the massacre–Adams asked Wade, “should I off them all?” and Wade answered, “yes.” The butchering then began.
Details
Joshua Wade
Victim: Titus Jamal Arnold, 23, plus several survivors
Age at time of murder: 16
Crime date: April 13, 2005
Crime location: Springfield
Partner in crime: Jason Dean, 30
Weapon: .40 caliber handgun
Murder method: Shot to the head
Convictions: Complicity in murder, aggravated robbery, discharge of a firearm at a habitation/school, attempted murder, & aggravated murder
Sentence: 56 years to life (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Pickaway Correctional Institution & has a parole hearing in March 2061
Summary
Wade and Dean went on a terrifying crime spree in the spring of 2005, which involved the robbery and murder of Urbana University senior and youth counselor Titus Arnold, along with several other acts of violence. Wade is in prison for life while Dean was sentenced to death and died due to natural causes in 2019. Due to SB 256, Wade may be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Timeline of the Crime Spree
April 10. Dean attempted to rob two people in a mini-mart parking lot. He shot one victim.
April 12. Dean and Wade fired shots at a home. A one-year-old girl and a pregnant woman were just centimeters away from being shot.
April 13. Titus left his job at a home for troubled youth just before midnight. Witnesses saw two men get out of a car, and chase Titus. They saw a man, who they recognized as Wade, shoot at Titus. He was robbed of $6.
Details
Kylen Gregory
Victim: Ronald Bowers III
Age at time of killing: 16
Accomplices: Malik Harris, 15, Jerry Tanner, 16, Miles Heizer, 18,
Crime date: September 4, 2016
Crime location: Kettering
Weapon: Handgun
Killing method: Shot to the head
Killing motivation: An alleged altercation at Alter-fest
Convictions: Gregory- reckless homicide & discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premises plus guilty plea to felonious assault; Heizer-guilty plea to tampering with evidence, aggravated menacing, assault, & contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor; Harris & Tanner-guilty pleas to assault, menacing, and tampering with evidence
Sentences: Gregory-11 years in prison; Heizer-two years in prison; Harris & Tanner-juvenile detention with a minimum sentence of six months and a maximum sentence of incarceration until 21
Incarceration status: Gregory– Incarcerated at the Southeastern Correctional Institution; Heizer-Incarcerated at the Madison Correctional Institution
Summary of the crime
The offenders hunted down Ronnie and his friends as they left Alter-fest. As Ronnie was driving away from the attackers, Gregory shot at his car. The bullet went through the windshield and hit Ronnie in the head. He died of his injuries several days later.
Details
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/kylen-gregory-sentenced-to-11-years-in-prison
https://dayton247now.com/news/local/court-documents-16-year-old-is-kettering-shooting-suspect
https://www.mcohio.org/departments/prosecutor/Gregory_Kylen_Charged.pdf
Kyle Patrick
Victim: Michael Abighanem, 27
Age at time of murder: 17
Crime date: April 27, 2012
Crime location: Youngstown
Partner in crime: Reginald Whitfield, 21
Crimes: Aggravated murder, armed robbery, & tampering with evidence
Murder method: Gunshot
Weapon: Firearm
Murder motivation: Robbery
Sentence: 34 years to life (sentence may change due to Senate Bill 256)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Mansfield Correctional Institution
Summary of the crime
Patrick and Whitfield murdered Michael during an orchestrated robbery.
Details
Michael Watson, Samuel Castle, and Tyler Morris
Victims: Timothy “T.J.” Maust, 26, murder victim, and Elizabeth Bunnell, 28, attempted murder victim
Murderers: Tyler Morris, 17, Michael Watson, 17, Samuel Castle, 17, & Gregory Kuzawa II, 18
Crime date: June 10, 2019
Crime location: Ashland, Ohio
Murder method: Gunshots
Weapon: .22 caliber Ruger handgun
Murder motivation: Drug debt
Crimes: Aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated murder, & drug trafficking
Sentences: Watson–38 years to life; Morris–38 years to life; Castle–17 years; Kuzawa–19 years (SB 256 may result in sentence reductions for the juvenile offenders)
Incarceration status: Watson–incarcerated at the Noble Correctional Institution; Morris–incarcerated at the Madison Correctional Institution; Castle–incarcerated at the Ross Correctional Institution; Kuzawa–incarcerated at the Richland Correctional Institution
Summary of the crime
Watson, Kuzawa, and Castle invaded Elizabeth and T.J.’s home with the intent to rob them. Watson shot both victims, killing T.J. and injuring Elizabeth. Though Morris was not present during the murder, he was responsible for planning it.
Details
Timothy Combs
Victim: Raymond Fife, 12
Age at time of murder: 17
Crime date: September 10, 1985
Crime location: Warren
Partner in crime: Danny Lee Hill, 18
Crimes: Kidnapping, rape, sexual torture, arson, and aggravated murder
Murder method: Beating, burning, and strangling
Sentence: Life in prison–would have been eligible for parole in 2049
Incarceration status: Deceased
Summary of the crime
In what sounds like the plot of a horror movie, Raymond, 12, was attacked as he rode his bike to a friend’s house before a Boy Scout meeting. The attackers, Danny Lee Hill, 18, and Timothy Combs, 17, proceeded to beat, rape, and sexually torture the boy. They also strangled him with his underwear, set him on fire, and left him for dead. Amazingly, young Raymond survived. He was found naked and barely alive by his father and brother-in-law. The boy died two days later in the hospital.
Details
T.J. Lane, Chardon High School Mass Shooter
Name: Thomas “T. J.” Lane III
Murder victims: Demetrius Hewlin, 16; Russell King, Jr, 17; and Daniel Parmertor, 16
Other victims: Joy Rickers, 18; Nate Mueller, 16; and Nick Walczak, 17 (paralyzed)
Age at time of murder: 17
Crime date: February 27, 2012
Crime location: Chardon, Ohio
Crimes: Mass shooting, triple murder, attempted murder, & felonious assault
Weapon: .22-caliber semiautomatic Ruger handgun
Murder method: Gunshots to the victims’ heads
Convictions: Guilty pleas to aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault, & assault
Sentence: Life without parole (LWOP)
Incarceration status: Incarcerated at the Warren Correctional Institution
Summary
Lane committed an infamous mass shooting at Chardon High School. He shot six students, killing three. He plead guilty and was sentenced to LWOP. Lane has shown no remorse, wearing a shirt reading “KILLER” to his sentencing hearing. The victims were all teenage high school students.
