Judge Sentences Anthony Sowell to Death 11 Times for the Murders of Women Found at His Cleveland Home
Judge Dick Ambrose followed the jury's recommendation. Sowell sat impassively and did not look at the victims' relatives as they spoke in court.
Published
The remains of 11 women were found in and around Anthony Sowell's Cleveland home in 2009. On August 12, 2011, a judge sentenced him to death for each of their murders.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose accepted the jury's recommendation and announced 11 death sentences; he had the option of reducing the sentence to life without parole. Sowell, 51, sat impassively, never looked at the victims' relatives as they spoke, and ignored the judge when asked whether he wanted to speak. A jury had convicted him on July 22 on 82 counts, including aggravated murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, and recommended death on August 10. Jurors said afterward that his unsworn statement to them, in which he apologized, sounded rehearsed and lacked remorse. "We will continue to be here when you are long gone," Donnita Carmichael, whose mother, Tonia Carmichael, was killed, told him.
Police found the first two bodies, of Diane Turner and Telacia Fortson, on October 29, 2009, while searching his house at 12205 Imperial Avenue over a rape complaint, and Sowell was arrested two days later. The other victims were Janice Webb, Nancy Cobbs, Tishana Culver, Tonia Carmichael, Michelle Mason, Kim Smith, Amelda Hunter, Crystal Dozier and Leshanda Long. Prosecutors said he lured the women to his home with the promise of alcohol or drugs. Some families complained that police had not taken the women's disappearances seriously, and the mayor ordered a review of how police handled missing-person and sex-crime cases. The death sentences were automatically appealed, and the Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed them on December 8, 2016.
Al Jazeera reported that the 11 women's bodies were found in Sowell's house, while the Supreme Court of Ohio recorded that one was buried in his backyard.
Sources
- State v. Sowell, 148 Ohio St.3d 554, 2016-Ohio-8025, Supreme Court of Ohio
- Judge sentences Ohio killer of 11 to death, Bangor Daily News (Associated Press)
- Ohio serial killer faces death penalty, Al Jazeera
Related News
- October 31, 2009: Cleveland Police Arrest Anthony Sowell After Officers Serving a Rape Warrant Find Women's Bodies in His Home
- December 8, 2016: Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Anthony Sowell's 11 Death Sentences
- February 9, 2021: Anthony Sowell, Condemned for the Murders of 11 Cleveland Women, Dies in Prison Before His Execution