Antonio Franklin was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a triple murder. According to court documents Antonio Franklin would murder his grandparents and uncle. His Grandmother was shot in the head and his Grandfather and Uncle were beaten unconscious with a bat before Anthony set the home on fire killing the two men. Antonio Franklin was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Antonio Franklin 2021 Information
Number A363374
DOB 10/05/1978
Gender Male Race Black
Admission Date 09/11/1998
Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution
Status INCARCERATED
Antonio Franklin More News
As an adolescent, Antonio Franklin moved into the Dayton, Ohio, home of his grandparents and uncle in order to escape his alcoholic mother’s physical and verbal abuse. Despite the abuse, Franklin appeared to be a relatively well-adjusted child. As Franklin approached the age of seventeen, however, his behavior began to change. On one occasion, for example, Franklin expressed a fear that extraterrestrials would abduct him. On another, he showed up at his girlfriend’s mother’s house in the middle of a winter night, appearing to be dazed and confused. Franklin also began to abuse marijuana at around this time, causing a rift between himself and his grandparents.
On April 17, 1997, when Franklin was nineteen years old, his grandparents and uncle informed him that he would soon have to find his own place to live. The discussion apparently upset Franklin. Later that evening, Franklin and his uncle got into an argument about Franklin’s use of the family’s phone, which his uncle followed by making a joke that implied that Franklin was sexually attracted to men. Franklin responded by picking up a baseball bat and attacking his uncle. Franklin then turned on his grandmother and grandfather. After severely beating all three of the relatives who had taken him in, Franklin seized a gun and shot his grandmother in the head, killing her. Franklin then set fire to the house, leaving his grandfather and uncle to die. With his grandmother’s jewelry in his pocket, Franklin fled to Tennessee in his grandfather’s vehicle. He was promptly apprehended by Tennessee police and confessed his involvement in the killings, which he said he had committed because his uncle had raped him as a child.
Franklin was eventually returned to Ohio, where he faced six counts of aggravated arson, two counts of aggravated robbery, and six counts of aggravated murder. Franklin pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all counts and also claimed that he was incompetent to stand trial. After holding a pretrial competency hearing, however, the trial court found that Franklin was in fact competent and that his case could proceed to trial. During trial, Franklin engaged in various forms of disruptive and inappropriate behavior. In addition to flashing gang signs at the jury, belching loudly, and repeatedly interrupting the judge:
Franklin nodded, stared at the floor, and played shadow puppets in light cast from the screen upon which were displayed slides of his deceased family members and the burned house in which they died. At other times he played shadow games with his tie. Franklin sat alone and stared[,] rarely paying attention to the proceedings.
Appellant’s Br. 15–16 (citations omitted). In the face of overwhelming evidence of Franklin’s guilt, the jury found Franklin guilty of all fifteen counts and recommended that he receive the death penalty. The trial court agreed with the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Franklin to death.