Medina County prosecutor expects local resentencing for Wadsworth teen convicted of murder

WADSWORTH — A resentencing hearing in Medina County could be on the horizon for Gavon Ramsay, who was found to have murdered his elderly Wadsworth neighbor in 2018. Arguments heard last week in the Ohio 9th District Court of Appeals will play a hand in determining if Ramsay's sentence is modified there according to new state guidelines or if his case comes back to Medina County for resentencing, according to Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson. Ohio Senate Bill 256 went into effect last month and 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. "Either the Court of Appeals has to modify his sentence or remand the case back to us, the trial court, for resentencing," Thompson said Monday. "But we're going to have to resentence Mr. Ramsay under the new law. We argued that resentencing should take place in Medina given the ability for families to make impact statements. "I do anticipate it will come back to our trial court sometime this year." 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. The murder was committed when Ramsay was 17. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision standing by a juvenile life sentence could further complicate matters, Thompson said. In late April, the Supreme Court upheld a life sentence for Brett Jones, of Alabama, who murdered his grandfather at age 15 after what's been characterized as an argument over Jones' girlfriend. "This validated the position of the old Ohio law," Thompson said of that ruling. "Ohio's law was good and it didn't need fixed in the first place. I'm not a justice on a Court of Appeals but in my mind, they now only have one of two choices. It's just the way this state law is right now. It would be sent back to the trial court, Medina County, with instructions to sentence under the new law." 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. Those convicted of aggravated murder as juveniles 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. Ohio's 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. Relatives found Douglas' body 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 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. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.