Family of slain woman fights to keep killer behind bars for life

WADSWORTH — A new state bill that took effect Monday could lead to a reduced prison term for Gavon Ramsay, who while a juvenile murdered an elderly Wadsworth neighbor before abusing her dead body. Ohio Senate Bill 256 grants parole eligibility to individuals convicted of violent crimes, including murder and rape, after serving 18 to 30 years in prison if they committed those crimes before turning 18. Ramsay was found guilty in November 2018 for the murder of 98-year-old Margaret Douglas, which took place in April of that year and included sexual assault and strangulation, according to investigators and court testimony. Douglas' great-niece, Patricia Sacco of Michigan, said Monday that her family plans to take part in formal opposition to SB 256. "There's been this real feeling of fear and nervousness since we heard about this bill and especially since it was approved," she said. "After the bill passed and I looked into it more my other strong feeling is anger in how this bill could allow someone like Gavon Ramsay to slip through the cracks." "It puts all of these juvenile criminals into one box whether they were being reckless and shooting a gun that happens to kill someone or if they're committing these devious, plotting crimes like (Ramsay) did," Sacco added. "There's a lot of anger at this point because of this." A new section of Ohio Revised Code states that parole board members must consider factors in the crime related to offenders' age at the time, which for Ramsay was 17. Those convicted of aggravated murder as juveniles, such as Ramsay, will be evaluated for parole eligibility after serving 25 years if their offense involved the killing of one person. If two people were killed, parole eligibility will be looked at after 30 years. SB 256 also creates a new crime classification, aggravated homicide offenses, which involves the killing of three or more people and will remain eligible for a juvenile sentence of life without parole. The new bill goes on to say "hallmark features, including intellectual capacity, immaturity, impetuosity, and a failure to appreciate risks and consequences" will be part of future decision making. "At this point, our main conversation about this is trying to come up with an action plan," Sacco said. "As a family, we're talking about what we can do to bring attention to this and stop (Ramsay) from being released. We feel the lack of awareness of the crimes he committed that night, on the part of people in Columbus, is part of the reason this bill got passed the way it did." Twenty-three states as well as Washington, D.C. have banned life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles since a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling abolishing mandatory life sentences for that age group. State Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, is the primary sponsor of SB 256, which in December passed both Ohio General Assembly chambers by overwhelming bipartisan margins. "I certainly understand where victims families are coming from," Manning said Monday. "Promoting justice reform isn't an easy thing and there's a lot of difficult decisions we have to make as policy makers. Quite frankly, there are a lot of people who are supportive of these changes in Ohio and all over the country. I know that doesn't make a victim's family feel better. "If someone has not shown that they're remorseful and rehabilitated they won't be released," he added. "This bill was looking at many of those cases where people have changed and turned their lives around, became good model prisoners and done everything right. They made a mistake when they were juveniles and were sentenced as adults." Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association Executive Director Louis Tobin led that organization in fierce opposition to passage of SB 256. He and colleagues would like to see two key changes to its language: restoration of discretionary life sentences without parole and parole eligibility after no more than 30 years or 80 percent of the sentence for homicide offenders not handed discretionary life sentences. "SB 256 makes non-homicide offenders eligible (for parole) after 18 years regardless of the number of non-homicide offenses committed," Tobin said. "That can mean one, two or even five rape offenses just to give an example. But it can mean any violent crime. The number doesn't matter." He said that messaging regarding U.S. Supreme Court opinion on juvenile life sentences without parole often needs more nuance. "There were arguments made last year that SB 256 was required by Supreme Court and Ohio Supreme Court precedent and that's just not true," Tobin said. "The U.S. Supreme Court has said you can't impose mandatory life without parole sentences on juveniles. It didn't say you can't ever impose life without parole, just that the judge has to consider factors of youth before they do it. Gavon Ramsay was a discretionary life sentence, which does not go against the Supreme Court." Relatives found the body of 98-year-old Margaret Douglas on April 9, 2018, inside the closet of her Wadsworth home while performing a welfare check. It is believed Ramsay killed her in the early morning hours of April 6, breaking into the home, strangling her while wearing plastic gloves, and sexually assaulting her body while photographing the act. Later that month, police found photos and videos of the crime on Ramsay's cellphone while investigating a series of local petty crimes. Ramsay, who just turned 20, filed an appeal in February 2019 with the 9th District Court of Appeals roughly one month after his discretionary life sentence was handed down by Medina County Common Pleas Court Judge Joyce Kimbler. The appellate court affirmed on March 31 the sentence against Ramsay on charges of murder, aggravated murder, kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse and aggravated burglary. The teen initially pleaded not guilty to charges but later switched to a no-contest plea. The Ohio Supreme Court announced Dec. 31 it had dismissed an appeal attempt on Ramsay's behalf, which came after the 9th District Court of Appeals decided to uphold his life sentence last April. It's believed Douglas was asleep on her couch when Ramsay attacked. Video footage from Ramsay's phone suggested that he entered the home without Douglas' knowledge and secretly watched her before taking her life. Police also found Douglas' wallet in Ramsay's bedroom and found one of his gloves inside her home. Experts testified that Ramsay suffers from numerous disorders including gaining sexual arousal from the suffering of others, adding that the prescription antidepressant Zoloft may have contributed to the teen's behavior. During the sentencing hearing, Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson said life without parole was appropriate for Ramsay, emphasizing a perceived lack of remorse and premeditation for murder. Thompson said in March that he expects new state law changes to bring Ramsay's case back to Medina County as soon as this year. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330)721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.