Wadsworth murder victim's family to speak on juvenile sentencing changes

WADSWORTH — A Friday news conference opposing recent changes to Ohio juvenile life sentences will include comments from the family of Margaret Douglas, an elderly Wadsworth resident who was murdered by a teenage neighbor in 2018. Douglas' great-niece, Patricia Leasure, has played an instrumental role in creation of the Ohio Coalition for Safety and Fairness, or OCSF, which was organized in the aftermath of Ohio granting parole eligibility to individuals convicted of violent crimes. That includes cases involving murder and rape with parole possible after serving 18 to 30 years in prison if those crimes were committed before turning 18. Those changes went into effect in April following passage of Ohio Senate Bill 256. "My role has been mostly trying to lay out the groundwork for everything," Leasure said of OCSF. "As far as planning the events, that's more the role of others but as far as the initial setting it up and figuring out a name and what our goals are, that's where I came into it." "This will be our first big press conference," she added. "There's been some smaller events around Ohio for a couple weeks now. There will be multiple families there and we're going to say what needs to be said. We're ready to fight this. I've never done anything like this before, speaking like this." Leasure and other family members involved with OCSF will speak at 10 a.m. in Columbus directly outside the statehouse. Gavon Ramsay was 17 when he murdered Douglas and sexually abused her body. Relatives found Douglas' body 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. "I think back to my victim impact statement, during the sentencing, and I was just trying to share my honest thoughts and not being nervous with Gavon Ramsay standing next to me and that proximity," Leasure said. "I guess now it'll be about speaking to Ohio lawmakers and my thoughts will be to tell them how we've been impacted by this bill." 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 later confirmed 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 no contest. 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. "We're hoping that we're able to set up some sort of meetings or even a hearing," Leasure said. "When we're down there if (legislators) are listening we hope to talk to them individually or at least set something up for the future." A resentencing hearing in Medina County could be on the horizon for Ramsay under new SB 256 provisions. Arguments heard in late April 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 a new sentencing hearing. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision standing by a juvenile life sentence could further complicate matters. In April, the Supreme Court upheld a life sentence for Brett Jones, of Mississippi, who at age 15 murdered his grandfather after what's been characterized as an argument over Jones' girlfriend. A new section of Ohio Revised Code states 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. Leasure said she and other family members would like to see bill additions that distinguishes certain crimes based on their brutality rather than just the number of victims. "Our mindset is that these exceptions can be expressed with new language in the bill," she said. "The Supreme Court seemed to realize that, saying that juvenile life without parole is still Constitutional and that, in some cases, someone is incapable of being reformed and that sentence is appropriate for them. We're trying to push for amendments to the bill, so the people who are capable of rehabilitation still have their chance (for parole)." "I think the state was a little unaware of the serious criminals SB 256 was going to have an effect on," Leasure added. "They weren't thinking of people out there like Gavon Ramsay." Friday's news conference is the final stop on a 13-event "RV Barnstorm" organized by OCSF. The first stop was last month's Donald Trump rally in Wellington, where organizers say they spoke to several legislators about their cause. Leading the tour has been Brian Kirk, whose grandmother Marie Belcastro was murdered in 2015 by a juvenile assailant. That crime occurred in Trumbull County carrying many similarities to the killing of Douglas. "Ohioans passed Marsy's Law with 83 percent of the vote," Kirk said. "When voters learn what their leaders did with SB 256 in a lame-duck session, they'll demand change. We're coming back to Ohio to shine a bright light on this pro-killer, anti-victim law." Marsy's Law for Ohio was passed in November 2017 and took effect Feb. 5, 2018. It expanded legal rights of victims to include the right to legal standing and protection from the defendant and broadened parole board power to deny inmate releases. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.