"Everybody Lost Something Today": The Families Face Anthony Sowell at His Sentencing, 2011
WEWS News 5 Cleveland's report from August 12, 2011: Judge Dick Ambrose imposes the death sentence, and the victims' families speak to a silent Anthony Sowell.
- Subject
- Anthony Sowell
- Recorded
- August 12, 2011
- Runtime
- 2:33
Content warning: Relatives address the man who murdered their loved ones, including a wish for his death; the case involves the murders of 11 women and sexual attacks on women who survived. No graphic detail.
The Interview
This is not an interview, and Anthony Sowell does not speak in it. It is a 2:33 report broadcast by WEWS News Channel 5 in Cleveland on August 12, 2011, the day Judge Dick Ambrose sentenced Sowell to death. Reporter Joe Pagan's report includes courtroom audio of the sentence and short excerpts of the statements that the victims' relatives made to Sowell in court. None of the people giving statements is named in the clip.
Historical Context
Between October 29 and November 3, 2009, Cleveland police found the remains of 11 women at Sowell's house on Imperial Avenue; he was arrested on October 31, 2009. A jury found him guilty on July 22, 2011, and recommended death on August 10, 2011. Under Ohio law, the judge then decided whether to impose the death sentence.
Circumstances
According to the report, Judge Ambrose spent an hour outlining the details of the case before the families spoke. Pagan reported that Sowell kept his eyes closed and remained motionless throughout the hearing, never looking at the families or at the judge. The families of the 11 victims and three women who survived Sowell's attacks gave statements. The jurors, already dismissed from the case, returned to watch.
What the Recording Covers
The report opens with a relative speaking of the pain Sowell caused the speaker's mother "and these other women." The judge is heard imposing "the sentence of death" on Sowell. The statements that follow range from forgiveness ("I have to forgive you in order for God to forgive me") to anger: one speaker says, "I never believed in death penalty until I met you," and another tells Sowell, "I want your eternal hell to begin." A speaker says that "everybody lost something today." The last excerpt ends with a wish that Sowell's pacemaker would stop. Pagan closes by noting the automatic appeal of the death sentence and a second defense appeal based on jurors' comments to the media.
What Makes the Recording Significant
The report preserves the families' own words to Sowell on the day he was sentenced, together with the pronouncement of the sentence, in the Cleveland station's same-day broadcast.
Archival Importance
The footage comes from the Cleveland station's own channel.
Important Caveats
Sowell is not heard. None of the people giving statements is named in the clip, and the boundaries between speakers cannot be determined without listening; do not attach names to these voices. The Associated Press reported that Donnita Carmichael, daughter of Tonia Carmichael, and Florence Bray spoke that day, but which voices, if any, are theirs is not established. Some statements may come from the surviving women; none is named, and none should be named on the page. The anchor is addressed only as "Leon"; do not supply a surname. The final words of the last statement are unclear.
Statement 1: [unclear: "...than the pain and anger she put my mother" (captions) / "In a pain and anguish, you put my mother" (Whisper)] and these other women through.
Anchor: They lost loved ones at the hands of Anthony Sowell. Today they faced him one last time. Then Judge Dick Ambrose sentenced Sowell to die for murdering 11 women in his Imperial Avenue house. News Channel 5's Joe Pagan is here with more on the story.
Joe Pagan: Leon, the death sentence came swiftly for Anthony Sowell today. Judge Ambrose spent an hour outlining the terrible details of the case, and after that, the families of the victims had their chance to tell Sowell exactly how they feel.
Joe Pagan: Throughout the sentencing hearing, Anthony Sowell kept his eyes closed and remained motionless, never looking at the families of his victims, never looking at Judge Dick Ambrose as the final sentencing was read.
Judge Dick Ambrose: ...and therefore finds that the sentence of death shall be imposed upon the defendant, Anthony Sowell.
Joe Pagan: The families of the 11 victims and three women who survived Sowell's attacks then gave their statements. Some forgiving Sowell, while others continue to show their pain.
Statement 2: God have mercy on your soul, because I'm not no hateful person.
Statement 3: I never believed in death penalty until I met you. I never ever wanted anybody down like that until I met you.
Statement 4: You will have to answer to God for what you have done, because you didn't give life, and you had no right to take life away. But one thing I want you to know: I have to forgive you in order for God to forgive me.
Statement 5: When you are locked away, sitting and rotting in a cell, [unclear: "or" / "of"] waiting for your life to end, Anthony, please believe, when it's all over and you're taking your last breaths, your very last looks, that is when, at that very moment, I want your eternal hell to begin.
Statement 6: I don't see any personal gain in any of this for any of us, you know, 'cause everybody lost something today.
Statement 7: He deserves to pay the ultimate cost for his crime: to be murdered and lay helpless and lifeless, like our loved ones did in that disgusting house. Thank you, and may your pacemaker stop [unclear: "in your dad tonight" (captions) / "in your dad or nike" (Whisper)].
Joe Pagan: Now, by law, Sowell's death sentence will be given an automatic appeal. A second appeal is also being filed by the defense based on some of the comments made by jurors to the media. And speaking of jurors, they were all in attendance for today's sentencing hearing, even though they were dismissed from the case earlier. More comments from family members and Sowell survivors coming up on News Channel 5 at 6 o'clock. ---