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Quisi Bryan Ohio Death Row

Quisi Bryan was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Quisi Bryan was pulled over on a traffic stop and when Officer Wayne Leon walked up to the vehicle he was fatally shot in the head. Quisi Bryan would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Quisi Bryan 2021 Information

Number A399595

DOB 10/02/1970

Gender Male Race Black

Admission Date 02/27/2001

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Quisi Bryan More News

Bryan supported himself selling drugs and “hitting licks” — robbing other drug sellers. State v. Bryan, 804 N.E.2d 433, 444, ¶ 8 (Ohio 2004). In 1995, Bryan was convicted of attempted robbery. Since being paroled in 1998, Bryan was indicted for theft and receiving stolen property. Arrest warrants were issued for him for parole violation.

In 2000, when Bryan’s vehicle was stopped at a gas station, police officer Wayne Leon pulled behind him. Both men got out of their cars. The officer looked at Bryan’s temporary tag, noticed it had been altered, and then took Bryan’s driver’s license so that he could run a police check on both Bryan and the car. When Leon radioed the police station, Bryan pulled his handgun from his coat and shot the officer in the face. Officer Leon died instantly. Bryan retrieved his driver’s license and fled in his car.

Other people were present at the gas station during this incident. In addition to the individuals at the station, Kenneth Niedhammer was waiting at the traffic light next to the gas station. Niedhammer owned a private security agency and was working that day. He did not see the shooting, but heard it. Then (as he would later testify) he saw the officer “lying in the gas station” — “very bloody,” “obviously an officer down” — and “at almost the same time” saw “a white Pontiac Grand Prix start to erratically leave the gas station almost running into people.”

Niedhammer activated his siren and flashing lights and gave chase. Twice, Bryan stopped his car, got out, and fired at Niedhammer. Both times Niedhammer returned fire. Eventually, Bryan lost control of his car and crashed.

Bryan fled on foot. At some point, Bryan threw his handgun into a dumpster. He eventually fled to Columbus where he was arrested that same day.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Later that year, the trial jury convicted Bryan of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted murder (of Niedhammer), the two firearm specifications attached to each of those four counts, and the four death-penalty specifications attached to each aggravated murder. The jury also convicted Bryan of one count of carrying a concealed weapon, one count of carrying a firearm while under disability (being a convicted felon), and one count of tampering with evidence (throwing the handgun into the dumpster).

In the penalty phase, the trial court, for each aggravated murder, merged the first two death specifications (murder of a police officer engaged in his duties and murder for the purpose of killing a police officer) into one (the “killing an officer” aggravator), leaving a total of three death specifications on each aggravated-murder count: 1) killing an officer, 2) escaping arrest, and 3) course of conduct. The jury recommended a death sentence. The trial court sentenced Bryan to death and 33 1/2 years.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1757608.html

George Brinkman Ohio Death Row

George Brinkman was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for five murders. According to court documents George Brinkman would go to the first home where he would murder Suzanne Taylor and her two daughters, twenty-one-year-old Taylor Pifer and eighteen-year-old Kylie Pifer. George Brinkman would then travel to the next home where he would murder seventy-one-year-old Rogell “Gene” John and his sixty-four-year-old wife Roberta “Bobbi” John. Brinkman, George Brinkman would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

George Brinkman 2021 Information

Number A764906

DOB 01/28/1972

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 10/21/2019

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

George Brinkman Other News

George Brinkman argued for his own death sentence Wednesday, telling a panel of three judges he deserves the harshest of punishments.

Stepping to the witness stand, the 47-year-old Stark County man apologized for murdering Roberta (Bobbi) and Rogell (Gene) John in June 2017. Brinkman said he wasn’t making excuses for taking their lives.

“They were extremely kind, caring and wonderful and people who did not deserve to be killed by me,” he said. ”… I’m so very sorry for the all the pain and suffering I have caused the families and friends of Gene and Bobbi. I know that will never be enough but it’s all I have.”

Brinkman argued against the mitigating circumstances in his own case. “Yes, I had a horrible childhood … yes, I’ve had a lot of bad things happen to me in my life, so what? Other (people have) had it worse and never went around killing people they care about.”

His remarks came a day after his defense attorneys told the court Brinkman suffers from a traumatic childhood, depression, mental health problems, alcohol abuse and other issues.

In closing remarks Wednesday afternoon, Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Barr quoted the defendant in making his final argument for why Brinkman should be given a death sentence.

“In the words of George Brinkman,” Barr said, “anything less than a sentence of death would not be justice in this case.”

But that is only one of many factors being considered by Stark County Common Pleas Judges Chryssa Hartnett, Taryn Heath and Kristin Farmer.

The panel also could sentence him to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 or 30 years or a life term without the possibility of parole.

The judges deliberated for about three hours Wednesday afternoon but couldn’t reach a verdict on Brinkman’s fate. The panel will resume deliberations 8 a.m. Thursday.

Following a trial Tuesday, the panel found Brinkman guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and single counts of aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence.

Brinkman had pleaded guilty to all charges but a trial was still required under the law because it’s a death penalty case.

Regardless of what the judicial trio decides, Brinkman has already been convicted and sentenced to death for slaying three people in Cuyahoga County the same day he killed the Johns, a Lake Township couple known for their kindness and generosity in helping others.

Gene John, 71, was a Vietnam War veteran who worked in the circulation departments of The Canton Repository and The Massillon Independent for years before he started a business distributing telephone books and publications in the region.

Bobbi John, 64, was retired from special education. She had worked both as a teacher and administrator in a career that included stops at the Louisville and Alliance school districts.

Brinkman had known the couple for more than 10 years and watched their home and 17-year-old dog while they were on vacation before the murders on June 11, 2017.

During an interview with a Stark County Sheriff’s Office investigator, Brinkman said that after they arrived at their Mount Pleasant Street NW home, Bobbi told him she was unhappy with how he had cared for their dog, which was deaf and blind. He said that led to an argument.

Brinkman picked up Gene’s .45-caliber handgun, which the defendant had gotten out of storage earlier, prosecutors said. Brinkman ordered the couple to an upstairs bedroom, where they locked the door, Barr said in closing arguments. The defendant fired the gun at the doorknob to gain access, the assistant prosecutor said.

He shot Gene three times and Bobbi twice, also fracturing her skull with blows to the head, Barr said, arguing the crimes were not impulsive.

Making a case for the aggravating circumstances of the murders, Barr said in closing arguments that Brinkman killed the couple and stole $40 from Gene’s wallet and $100 from Bobbi’s purse because he needed money to flee the state. Barr cited the defendant’s own words from his interview with the sheriff’s investigator.

“This was a planned act,” he said. “Not a reaction to getting yelled at by Bobbi, not a reaction to getting yelled at by Gene (for getting his gun out), but a plan he thought of before they got home — it was a plan he carried out.”

During her turn at closing arguments, Stark County Public Defender Tammi Johnson said her client had power-washed the deck, mowed the yard and ordered a pizza before the Johns got home from vacation. She said he could have stolen items but didn’t.

“Those are not the actions of someone who has this plan to rob and kill these people,” Johnson said.

Referencing her client’s earlier statement asking for the death penalty, the public defender said the facts of the case and law do not warrant it.

Dr. Bob Stinson, a forensic psychologist, testified for the defense Wednesday regarding the defendant’s traumatic childhood, substance abuse problems and suicidal thoughts.

Stinson said he based his opinions on a review of court records, interviews with Brinkman, listening to Brinkman’s interview with law enforcement, talking with others and research.

Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Fred Scott said during cross-examination that most of Stinson’s opinions were based on Brinkman’s “self-reporting” and not corroborated by others.

Johnson argued that not all of the doctor’s opinions and findings were based on the defendant’s own words, including an unstable and volatile home as a child.

She also said “the state wants you to decide George is the worst of the worst” in seeking the death penalty.

She said Brinkman has taken responsibility for his actions and has behaved well in jail. “Is that the worst of the worst?” she asked rhetorically.

https://www.indeonline.com/news/20191002/murderer-george-brinkman-no-excuses-give-me-death

Grady Brinkley Ohio Death Row

Grady Brinkley was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of an ex girlfriend. According to court documents Grady Brinkley would murder Shantae Smith before robbing her home and fleeing to Chicago. Grady Brinkley would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Grady Brinkley 2021 Information

Number A436028

DOB10/16/1967

Gender Male Race Black

Admission Date 10/03/2002

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Grady Brinkley More News

On November 6, 1999, Grady Brinkley did not report for his scheduled shift at Rick’s City Diner in Toledo, Ohio. Instead, Brinkley persuaded a co-worker, Olivia Hunter, to drive him to the diner about an hour before it closed that afternoon. Then he loitered around for a while. At closing, hostess Marissa Brown put the day’s proceeds—$2,211—and a bank-deposit slip into a paper bag, which she put in her purse. Brinkley followed Brown to her car, pointed a silver pistol in her face, and demanded the money. Brown thought he was joking and slapped the gun away. Brinkley punched her in the mouth and cocked the pistol. Brown gave him the money. Brinkley and Hunter then drove off; Brown went back into the diner, her mouth full of blood, and told the cook, “Snoop [i.e., Brinkley] robbed us.” The Toledo Police tracked Brinkley without much difficulty and arrested him and Hunter that afternoon.

Brinkley sat in jail for the next several weeks, where he met another inmate, Samuel Miller. Soon Brinkley bragged to Miller about the robbery, saying that “the gun was real.” Brinkley, who was then 32, also said he would manipulate his 18 year-old girlfriend, Shantae Smith, to post bond for him, even though (according to Brinkley) she was then “sleeping with” another man. Brinkley added that he would skip town rather than face the robbery charge, that he “was going back home, to Chicago,” and that “I’m going to kill that bitch [Smith] before I leave town.”

Meanwhile Smith’s life changed for the better while Brinkley was in jail. She got a new job, a new apartment, and met new co-workers and friends. She also (as Brinkley surmised) had a new boyfriend, with whom she worked at her new job.

Brinkley’s bond was set at $20,000. On December 17, 1999, Smith withdrew $2,000 from her bank account, paid it to a bail-bond company (as their fee), and co-signed a $20,000 bail bond to spring Brinkley from jail. He walked out of jail that afternoon.

Brinkley stayed at Smith’s apartment for the next three weeks. On January 6, 2000, Brinkley failed to show at his pretrial hearing. The following morning, after Smith returned home from work, Brinkley strangled her, slit her throat, and then stole her ATM card and winter coat as she bled to death on her apartment floor. Around the same time, Brinkley used Smith’s phone to call the local Greyhound Bus terminal, where he soon headed to catch a 6:50 p.m. ride to Chicago. Before getting on the bus, however, Brinkley tried 16 times to use Smith’s ATM card. Each time he failed—he did not know her PIN—and video from a camera at one of the ATM machines showed Brinkley wearing Smith’s coat (which was much too small for him; Brinkley is 6’4”) as he tried to withdraw cash with her card.

At 7 p.m. the following day—after Brinkley had reunited with his own mother in Chicago—Shantae Smith’s mother, Theresa, went to Smith’s apartment to drop off some laundry. Theresa knocked on the door but no one answered. Theresa pushed open the door as far as its chain would allow and saw blood inside. She kicked open the door and saw a pool of blood next to a pile of blood-soaked sheets and blankets in the kitchen. She pulled back one of the blankets, and saw the body of her daughter. Theresa called the police, who found in the apartment bloody footprints that matched Brinkley’s size-15 Nike shoes. They also found a bogus note, written in Brinkley’s handwriting (the note bears his thumbprint) but purportedly signed by Smith, which said, “Will be gone to Atlanta for 7 days to see my friend, could you please not fix my sink until I get back.”

A brief manhunt followed—as before, Brinkley was easy to find—until, on January 13, an FBI fugitive task force arrested Brinkley at his mother’s residence in Chicago. Brinkley wore Smith’s winter coat and the same pair of size-15 Nike shoes as he walked to the FBI car.

A grand jury charged Brinkley with robbery, aggravated robbery, and aggravated murder. The indictment also alleged two statutory aggravating circumstances—also known as “death-penalty specifications”—either of which would make Brinkley eligible for the death penalty: first, that he murdered Smith “for the purpose of escaping detection, apprehension, trial, or punishment” for another crime; and second, that he murdered Smith while committing or attempting to commit aggravated robbery. Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2929.04(A)(3), (A)(7).

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1743652.html

David Braden Ohio Death Row

David Braden was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a double murder. According to court documents David Braden would go to his ex girlfriends home where he would shoot her and her father, Denise Roberts, and Ralph Heimlich. David Braden would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

David Braden 2021 Information

Number A380366

DOB 09/09/1959

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 07/09/1999

Institution Warren Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

David Braden More News

Court-ordered costs owed by a death row inmate who killed his girlfriend and her 83-year-old father are keeping the prisoner so poor he can’t afford basics like shoes or boots, civil rights lawyers say.

While condemned prisoner David Braden earns $16 a month in inmate pay, he is allowed to keep a maximum of only $25 in his commissary account as he pays off costs from his 1999 trial, according to a motion filed with the Ohio Supreme Court this month by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio on behalf of Braden.

The cheapest pair of prison shoes for purchase on death row cost $27.95, the ACLU said.

“The state of Ohio has incarcerated this person and has sentenced him to death — it doesn’t need to take away his most basic dignities,” said ACLU staff attorney Elizabeth Bonham. Braden does have a pair of shoes now, she said.

The $25 limit means Braden has to choose necessities he can afford, including postage, medical co-pays and most toiletries, Braden’s attorney said in a similar filing with the Ohio Supreme Court.

The prisoner owes about $1,600 of a $2,127.50 bill he received after sentencing nearly two decades ago.

To fix Braden’s dilemma, a 2013 Ohio law allowing for the modification of court costs should also apply to inmates sentenced before then, according to his attorneys.

The state Supreme Court agreed to take the case but hasn’t yet held oral arguments, and any decision is months away.

Numerous other states say judges must consider inmates’ ability to pay, especially when it’s clear they’re basically penniless, Braden’s attorneys argue.

The “court must consider whether the defendant remains indigent and whether repayment would cause manifest hardship,” the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 2009.

In Ohio, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien says that the law is not retroactive and that Braden lost his right to appeal the costs by not challenging them earlier. Even if the law could be applied to earlier cases, the prosecutor said, it’s still up to the judge.

“A trial court is not required to accept a payment plan simply because the defendant has offered one,” O’Brien, a Republican, argued in a court filing.

Braden was sentenced to die for killing his girlfriend, 44-year-old Denise Roberts, and her father, 83-year-old Ralph Heimlich, at their Columbus home in 1998.

Roberts had tried to end her relationship with Braden, whom her father disliked, according to court records.

Last month, the state Supreme Court heard arguments over similar issues raised by another killer: whether judges should offenders’ future ability to pay costs when they’re asked to modify those expenses.

Lawyers for James Dunson — including the ACLU — say it will take him years to pay off the more than $6,000 in court costs assessed after his 2013 murder conviction.

The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office in Dayton counters that nothing in state law requires judges to determine whether a prisoner has a present or future ability to pay court costs.

The two cases are part of a national debate over the use of fines and bail. In January, Ohio’s Republican Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor urged judges around the state to avoid imposing excessive fines, fees or bail simply to raise money.

Melvin Bonnell Ohio Death Row

Melvin Bonnell was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a robbery murder. According to court documents Melvin Bonnell would force his way into the victims home where he would fatally shoot the victim. Melvin Bonnell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

Ohio Death Row Inmate List

Melvin Bonnell 2021 Information

Number A204019

DOB 09/23/1957

Gender Male Race White

Admission Date 06/29/1988

Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

Melvin Bonnell More News

Shirley Hatch, Edward Birmingham and Robert Eugene Bunner shared an apartment on Bridge Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. On November 28, 1987, at approximately 3:00 a.m., Hatch heard someone knock at the kitchen door of the apartment. Hatch asked who was at the door and a voice replied, “Charles.” Bunner opened the door and appellant, Melvin Bonnell, entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. Appellant uttered an expletive directed at Bunner and then proceeded to fire two gunshots at Bunner at close range. Bunner fell to the floor and Hatch, who had witnessed the shooting, ran to a bedroom where Birmingham was sleeping. Hatch heard two more gunshots, awoke Birmingham to tell him that Bunner had been shot, and then fled from the apartment to call paramedics. Birmingham went to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, Birmingham observed appellant who was on top of Bunner “* * * pounding him in the face.” Birmingham also observed bullet holes in Bunner’s body. Birmingham grabbed appellant and ejected him from the apartment.

At approximately 3:40 a.m., two Cleveland police officers were patrolling Bridge Avenue in a police cruiser when they observed a blue vehicle being driven backwards on Bridge Avenue with its headlights off. The officers attempted to stop the vehicle, and a high-speed chase ensued when the driver of the vehicle failed to stop. During the chase, the officers never lost sight of the vehicle except, perhaps, for a few seconds. The officers never saw anyone in the vehicle except the driver. No one exited the vehicle during the chase. The chase ended when the driver of the blue vehicle crashed into the side of a funeral chapel. The officers removed the driver from the vehicle and placed him on the ground. Both officers identified appellant as the driver of the vehicle.

Shortly after the accident, Cleveland police Officers Stansic and Kukula arrived at the crash site and saw a man lying on the ground with police officers standing over him. However, Officers Stansic and Kukula left the accident scene almost immediately thereafter in response to a radio call regarding the shooting at the Bridge Avenue apartment.

Upon arriving at the apartment, officers Stansic and Kukula interviewed Hatch *704 and Birmingham who provided the officers with a description of Bunner’s assailant. The officers recognized the witnesses’ description as meeting the description of the man they had observed at the accident scene. The officers asked Birmingham to accompany them to the hospital where the man had been transported following the accident. At the hospital, Birmingham identified appellant as Bunner’s assailant.

Bunner died as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest. An autopsy revealed that Bunner was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the pubic region. Both bullets were recovered from the body.

Police officers retraced the chase scene and found a .25 caliber automatic pistol which was later identified as appellant’s. The weapon was test-fired and the test bullets were compared to the bullets found in Bunner’s body. The test bullets and the bullets retrieved from Bunner’s body had the same characteristics, and test casings matched spent bullet casings found at the murder scene.

Appellant was tried before a jury for the aggravated murder of Robert Bunner and for the commission of an aggravated burglary. The jury found appellant guilty on one count of aggravated burglary, one count of aggravated (felony) murder, and one count of aggravated murder … with prior calculation and design, causing Bunner’s death. In addition, appellant was found guilty of a death penalty specification in connection with each count of aggravated murder. For each count of aggravated murder, the trial judge, following the jury’s recommendation, imposed a sentence of death. The court of appeals affirmed the convictions and death penalty.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/301/698/2511412/