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Damian Hauschultz Teen Killer Murders 7 Year Old

Damian Hauschultz was fourteen years old when he fatally beat to death seven year old Ethan Hauschultz. According to court documents Ethan was a foster child who was sent to the Hauschultz household after being removed from his parental home due to abuse. Ethan Hauschultz would be severely beaten as he was forced to drag a forty five pound log around the backyard as a form of punishment. Ethan Hauschultz would die from a combination of hypothermia, a broken rib and blunt force trauma. Damian Hauschultz would plead guilty to reckless homicide. This teen killer was sentenced to 20 years in prison plus 10 years probation

Damian Hauschultz 2023 Information

Name: HAUSCHULTZ, DAMIAN L
Birth Year:2003

Status: INCARCERATED
Sub-Status: Institution: Wisconsin Correctional Facility

Damian Hauschultz More News

A Manitowoc County teenager pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree reckless homicide in the 2018 killing of Ethan Hauschultz, his 7-year-old foster brother.

In a 20-minute hearing conducted by video, 17-year-old Damian Hauschultz acknowledged that his actions on April 20, 2018, caused the injuries that killed Ethan. Doctors who examined the boy said he suffered hypothermia, a broken rib, and blunt-force trauma to various parts of his body after Damian repeatedly kicked, prodded and struck him with a belt as he carried out a punishment that involved lugging a 44 1/2-pound piece of wood around their snowy yard.

Ethan, his brother and sister had been placed with Damian’s family after Manitowoc County Human Services workers removed them from their parents’ home because of neglect and abuse.

Damian, a recent high school graduate who wore a red-and-yellow-themed Harry Potter T-shirt, repeatedly answered “yes” and “yes, ma’am” as Judge Jerilyn Dietz asked if he truly wanted to plead guilty, and if he understood he was waiving his right to a trial.

Damian, who was 14 at the time of the killing, is to be sentenced on Sept. 2. Prosecutor Jacalyn LaBre and defense attorney Russell Jones have agreed to recommend 12 to 17 years in prison, but Dietz does not have to follow that recommendation.

The maximum penalty for first-degree reckless homicide is 60 years: 40 years in prison followed by 20 of probation.

https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/2021/06/25/manitowoc-homicide-teen-admits-reckless-homicide-foster-brother/5350469001/

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A 17-year-old Manitowoc County youth avoids trial by pleading guilty to First Degree Reckless Homicide in the 2018 death of Ethan Hauschultz.
Damian Hauschultz had also been charged with Three counts of Child Abuse-Intentionally Causing Harm and Three Counts of Substantial Battery-Intentionally Causing Bodily Harm, which were dismissed but read into the record Friday by Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Jerilyn Dietz.
Authorities responded to a call at a local hospital on April 7^th 2018 for an unresponsive child suffering from multiple injuries. The original complaint stated that 50-year-old Timothy Hauschultz instructed Damian to make the 7-year-old Ethan, a foster child in their Town of Newton home, carry a nearly 45 lbs. log around their yard as a form of punishment.
Damian also allegedly shoveled snow on the child along with standing on him and striking him nearly one hundred times.
Ethan was pronounced dead later that evening with hypothermia, multiple blunt force trauma and a broken rib as official causes of death.
Damian’s guilty plea means no trial will be held. He’s free on bail and will be sentenced September 2nd at 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Timothy Hauschultz remains in the County Jail on charges of Felony Murder, Child Abuse, Battery and Contribute to the Delinquency Death.

His trial is scheduled for December while 38-year-old Tina McKeever-Hauschultz was found guilty earlier this year and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of Failure/Prevent Mental Harm to a Child and Child Abuse/Failure/Prevent Great Harm- all felonies.

Damian Hauschultz Enters Plea in Death of 7-Year-Old Boy

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Tina McKeever-Hauschultz was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for her role in the events leading up to and failing to prevent the death of Ethan Hauschultz, 7.

The boy was beaten, forced to carry a 44-pound log and was buried in the snow before he died at in April 2018, prosecutors say.

Two others were charged in the case:

Damian Hauschultz, now 17, is charged with reckless homicide and other counts. He allegedly supervised Ethan’s punishment that day. A scheduling conference will be held April 5. No trial date has been set.
Timothy Hauschultz, 50, Damian’s father, Tina’s husband and the great-uncle of Ethan, faces eight charges, including felony murder, for allegedly ordering the punishment. No trial date has been set. He returns to court April 19.

McKeever-Hauschultz was emotional as she apologized to the court and community, and asked for forgiveness.

“I wish you could truly know how sorry I truly am because my heart hurts every day knowing such a tragedy occurred and I cannot undo it, no matter how hard I want it not to be. Because of my actions, another has suffered. I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. Please forgive me, if even humanly possible. If given another chance at life, I will get extensive counseling for both me and my family. I know changes need to made and I will be the first one to admit and actively work to change for the good. I was a follower in the past, and now I am to be a leader,” McKeever-Hauschultz said. “I wish I could bring Ethan back. My actions, my lack of actions, have left many traumatized. I’m sorry for not being a good person when I feel like I could have. I wish that never existed, and Ethan would be alive and well.”

The prosecution and defense attorney made a joint recommendation for two years in prison, which Judge Jerilyn Dietz said was not sufficient.

The judge noted the charges were reduced from intentionally contributing to delinquency causing death to McKeever-Hauschultz’s failure to act.

“I think that the amended charges fit the circumstances. I think that it is very clear, and has been established in hearing after hearing that your role in this, your culpability in this on that day was your failure to intervene, your failure to take action to prevent this most tragic of outcomes. I don’t believe you are free of culpability,” the judge said. “I don’t think that anyone is questioning that Timothy was the control in the household. He was head of household and exercised that control. But I also don’t think that frees you of culpability.”

McKeever-Hauschultz was also placed on extended supervision for five years.

McKeever-Hauschultz and Timothy Hauschultz, were the court-appointed guardians for Ethan. Ethan was Timothy’s grand-nephew. They were not home at the time of the incident.

The complaint says on April 20, 2018, Timothy told his son Damian Hauschultz, then 14, to make sure 7-year-old Ethan Hauschultz completed his punishment.

That included, according to the complaint, Ethan Hauschultz being required to carry a 44-pound log for two hours around a path in the backyard of their home. Damian said he had to carry wood for not knowing 13 Bible verses to Timothy’s satisfaction. The punishment was one week of carrying wood for two hours per day. Timothy picked out the logs, but Damian had to supervise the punishment for the younger children.

During that time the complaint says Ethan Hauschultz “struggled to carry his log” and Damian did “hit, kick, strike and poke Ethan approximately 100 times.” The complaint goes on to say Damian Hauschultz also stood on Ethan Hauschultz’s “body and head” while he was “face-down in a puddle.” The complaint also alleges Damian Hauschultz buried Ethan Hauschultz in about “80 pounds of packed snow” where he was left for about 20 to 30 minutes without a coat or boots.

Ethan died of hypothermia, but also had extensive other injuries, including blunt force injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, and a rib fracture, the medical examiner determined, the complaint states.

In Wisconsin, children ages 10 and older are charged in adult court for homicide cases.

Woman Sentenced for Role in Boy’s Death

Damian Hauschultz Sentencing

Manitowoc County teen will spend two decades behind bars for his role in the death of a 7-year-old relative. Ethan Hauschultz was beaten, forced to carry a 44-pound-log, and buried in the snow before he died in April 2018.

Damian Hauschultz, 17, pleaded guilty in June to first-degree reckless homicide, the most serious charge he faced. Six other charges were dropped. In Wisconsin, children ages 10 and older are charged in adult court for homicide cases.

After serving his 20-year prison sentence, he will be on extended supervision for another 10 years.

My goal is to ensure that you are incarcerated for just long enough to mature, and develop, to work on education, to work on treatment, work on controlling that angry side that again took full control in April 2018 we never want to see take full control again,” Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Jerilyn Dietz said.

A letter was also requested by Ethan’s mother, Andrea Everett, from Damian Hauschultz after five years incarcerated detailing what he has learned.

“I strongly believe that well into your 30s is necessary for you to have the development, the maturity and the time needed to ensure that you no longer pose as a danger to the community. But I also recognize that you should be released while you are still a fairly young man with a great deal of opportunities ahead of you to do I hope exactly what Ms. Everett hopes that you will do and make something good from your life out of this very tragic situation,” Hon. Dietz said.

“The only way that I can visit my son is to look at a box with his ashes that sit on a shelf on my living room wall,” Everett said.

Everett says Damian Hauschultz is out of excuses for his role in the death of her son.

“I’ve listened to people in this courtroom blame your parents for the reason why you’ve killed my son, I’ve listened to people talk about the trauma that you have gone through. We’ve all gone through trauma. But it doesn’t mean that we brutally kill a 7-year-old,” Everett said.

“I know this kid. I would trust him around my kids. I wouldn’t let him watch my kids. I wouldn’t let nobody watch my kids, but I wish people could get to know him,” Damian Hauschultz’s uncle, Robert Echlin said.

Damian Hauschultz did not address the court on Thursday.

Damian Hauschultz’s parents were also charged. Timothy Hauschultz and his wife, Tina McKeever-Hauschultz, were the court-appointed guardians for Ethan. They were not home at the time of the incident.

Tina McKeever-Hauschultz was sentenced in March to five years in prison for her role in the events leading up to and failing to prevent Ethan’s death.

Timothy Hauschultz faces eight charges, including felony murder, for allegedly ordering the punishment. Ethan was his great-nephew. A Dec. 6 trial is scheduled.

The criminal complaint says on April 20, 2018, Timothy told his son, Damian Hauschultz, then 14, to make sure Ethan Hauschultz completed his punishment.

That included, according to the complaint, Ethan Hauschultz being required to carry the log for two hours around a path in the backyard of their home. Damian said he had to carry wood for not knowing 13 Bible verses to Timothy’s satisfaction. The punishment was one week of carrying wood for two hours per day. Timothy picked out the logs, but Damian had to supervise the punishment for the younger children.

As a result of the case, a new law was passed in Wisconsin preventing children from being placed with any adult who had been found guilty of abusing a child, who pleaded no contest to a child abuse charge or entered a plea bargain to a lesser charge.

https://fox11online.com/news/crime/teen-sentenced-for-role-in-7-year-old-relatives-death

Damian Hauschultz FAQ

Damian Hauschultz 2021

Damian Hauschultz is currently incarcerated at the Wisconsin Correctional Facility

Damian Hauschultz Release Date

Damian Hauschultz is eligible for release in 2038

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Martice Fuller Teen Killer Murders Girlfriend

Martice Fuller was a fifteen year old who would break into his ex girlfriends home and shoot and kill her and shoot and injure her mother. According to court documents Martice Fuller would break into the Wisconsin home and would shoot and kill fifteen year old Kaylie Juga and shoot and injure her mother Stephanie Juga. Martice Fuller would go on the run but would soon be arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Martice Fuller 2023 Information

Name:FULLER, MARTICE T
Birth Year:2003

Status: INCARCERATED
Sub-Status:
Institution: Green Bay Correctional Institution

Martice Fuller More News

A Kenosha County judge sentenced Martice Fuller to life in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend and shooting her mother in 2019.

Fuller also will not be eligible for parole, the judge said.

Fuller shot and killed 15-year-old Bradford High School cheerleader Kaylie Juga.

At his sentencing Friday, Kaylie’s mother, Stephanie Juga, pleaded with the judge to make sure Fuller never gets out of prison.

“She was always by my side. And she was my biggest cheerleader. And now I’m lost I just feel so lost without her,” she said.

Requesting parole in 25 to 30 years, Fuller asked his attorney to read his statement, still claiming he didn’t do it.

“Despite the hatred that is against me, I still am sorry, but I have to continue to stand innocent because I am,” the attorney read.

But the judge wasn’t swayed.

“I hope that you can right yourself in your life in your daily life. But it won’t be among the community,” Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Mary Wagner said to Fuller.

Fuller had no visible reaction, walking out of court to head to prison for the rest of his life.

Fuller was also convicted of attempted homicide for shooting Juga’s mother and burglary for breaking into the home.

https://www.wisn.com/article/teen-convicted-of-killing-ex-girlfriend-sentenced-to-life-in-prison/36504431

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Kaylie Juga Photos

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Martice Fuller 2021

Martice Fuller is currently incarcerated at the Green Bay Correctional Institute

Martice Fuller Release Date

Martice Fuller is serving life without parole

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Saying the calculated killing of 15-year-old Kaylie Juga showed he was a “dangerous and damaged human being,” a judge Friday sentenced Martice Fuller to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“These crimes were not the impulsive acts of a child,” Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Mary K. Wagner told Fuller, who was convicted by a jury of shooting and killing his former girlfriend Kaylie at her west-side home and of shooting and injuring her mother, Stephanie Juga, when she came to her daughter’s aid. “I hope that you can right yourself in your life, in your daily life, but it won’t be among the community.”

Despite evidence presented at trial that Fuller carefully planned the shootings — and the testimony at trial of Stephanie Juga who had pleaded with Fuller, who she knew well, before he shot her — Fuller continued to maintain that he is innocent.

In a statement read to the court by one of his attorneys, Fuller said “I have to continue to stand innocent because I am.”

Fuller, now 18, was 15 when he was charged with the May 9, 2019 shootings.

During his March trial, prosecutors used testimony to show that what began as a high school romance when both Fuller and Juga were freshmen at Bradford High School — he a football player, she a cheerleader — morphed into something uglier, with Fuller becoming increasingly controlling and violent.

Fuller, now 18, was convicted by a jury in March, the jury finding him guilty of first-degree intentional homicide for Kaylie Juga’s death and attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting her mother.

During the trial, prosecutors showed that Fuller — who had been an honor student and a varsity athlete with no juvenile criminal history — had become increasingly angry and frustrated, with his behavior following the breakup with Juga leading to his expulsion from school and to his leaving his family home to stay with a series of friends. He had been stalking Juga before the shooting, showing up outside her home and repeatedly contacting her at work until worries about her safety led her to quit her job.

On the day of the shooting, Stephanie Juga had picked her daughter up from school. They were home — Kaylie Juga in her bedroom listening to music, Stephanie Juga in her room — when Fuller walked into the house armed with a handgun and shot Kaylie Juga to death in her room, then shooting Stephanie when she came to her daughter’s aid.

Fuller fled on foot, then on a bicycle he had stashed in a nearby park, and was later picked up by a friend. He was arrested the following day at a relative’s home in Racine.

Before Wagner pronounced her sentence, Stephanie Juga spoke to the court, asking that Fuller never be allowed out of prison. She spoke about the pain the crime has caused her family, the emotional toll it has taken on her husband and sons, and the physical pain she lives with as the result of her injuries, which left her wrist so damaged it has limited her career as a photographer and made it difficult to hold her new grandson.

Juga said the family lives daily with the loss of Kaylie, who would have graduated from high school this year.

“Martice Fuller didn’t only take our daughter away, he ruined me,” she told the court. “My best friend is gone. We did everything together. She was always by my side and she was my biggest cheerleader. Now I’m lost, I just feel so lost without her.”

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley said the shootings were as carefully planned “as a professional hit” with Fuller spending weeks getting ready and manipulating friends and family into unwittingly helping him by providing a gun, rides and places to stay.

Defense attorneys asked that Fuller be given the opportunity for release from prison after 25 to 30 years, noting that he was a child at the time of the shootings and that the U.S. Supreme Court has written that juveniles have more of a capacity for change than adults. In Wisconsin, conviction for first-degree intentional homicide carries a mandatory life sentence, but a portion of that sentence can be spent out of prison on parole

Wagner rejected that, saying Fuller’s calculated planning of the crime and lack of remorse made him a danger to the community, She sentenced Fuller to life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree intentional homicide conviction, followed by another 15 years for the attempted homicide and armed burglary convictions.

https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/martice-fuller-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-without-parole-in-murder-of-kaylie-juga/article_07f468c6-d1a0-5416-b91c-36dc6d6e97f5.html

Martice Fuller Teen Killer Murders Ex Girlfriend

Martice Fuller was convicted in the murder of his ex girlfriend Kaylie Juga in Wisconsin. According to court documents Kaylie Juga had ended her relationship with Martice Fuller after he became physically abusive towards her. Martice Fuller would force his way into her home and shoot the fifteen year old teen and her mother. The mother would survive the shooting and identify Martice Fuller to police. This teen killer was sentenced to life in prison without parole

Martice Fuller 2023 Information

Status: INCARCERATED

Sub-Status:

Institution: Green Bay Correctional Institution

Martice Fuller More News

A Kenosha County jury found Martice Fuller, 17, guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend, Kaylie Juga, in 2019.

“Kaylie Juga was controlled, was hurt, was stalked, was murdered by this defendant,” Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley said in his closing argument.

Prosecutors said the football player had earlier physically abused Juga, leading to their breakup.

Prosecutors said Fuller broke into her family’s home and shot Juga and her mother.

Juga’s mother survived and later identified Fuller as the killer.

“She will never forget. There are some memories that are burned into your brain forever. She sees his face. She hears his voice. She sees the gun being leveled at her chest every day,” Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney Angelina Gabriele said.

In closing arguments, Fuller’s attorney argued that because Kaylie’s mom was so traumatized at seeing her daughter killed and being shot herself, she wasn’t a reliable witness.

“She was going through terrible things that day. I cannot even imagine. But I also know when I’m going through unimaginable things, and scared and frantic and panicked, that I’m not at my best,” attorney Carl Johnson said.

Juga, then 15, was a Bradford High School cheerleader and honor student.

Fuller was charged with and convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and burglary with a dangerous weapon.

A judge paused Fuller’s trial last year amid accusations Fuller tried to tamper with the jury.

Fuller sobbed after the verdict was read.

He faces a mandatory life term when he’s sentenced May 21.

It is not yet known whether he’ll ever have a chance at parole.

Kaylie Juga’s parents were joined by dozens of relatives and friends at the trial but declined to comment afterward.

https://www.wisn.com/article/frontline-worker-walks-for-first-time-over-a-year-after-contracting-covid-19/35958647

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In a statement read to the court by one of his attorneys, Fuller said “I have to continue to stand innocent because I am.”

Fuller, now 18, was 15 when he was charged with the May 9, 2019 shootings.

Fuller fled on foot, then on a bicycle he had stashed in a nearby park, and was later picked up by a friend. He was arrested the following day at a relative’s home in Racine.

Juga said the family lives daily with the loss of Kaylie, who would have graduated from high school this year.

Wagner rejected that, saying Fuller’s calculated planning of the crime and lack of remorse made him a danger to the community, She sentenced Martice Fuller to life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree intentional homicide conviction, followed by another 15 years for the attempted homicide and armed burglary convictions.

Friday was Fuller’s second sentencing of the week. On Thursday, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder sentenced him to 18 months in prison for a jury tampering case that had derailed the state’s first attempt to hold a trial. In that case, the court learned before the trial began that Martice Fuller had asked relatives to contact members of the jury on his behalf. Those relatives never did contact the jury members, but the trial was called off, and an entirely new jury was picked when the case came to trial in March.

https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/martice-fuller-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-without-parole-in-murder-of-kaylie-juga/article_07f468c6-d1a0-5416-b91c-36dc6d6e97f5.html

Alton Coleman And Debra Brown Serial Killers

Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were two serial killers who would go on a crime spree through six states that included the murder of eight people. Eventually Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would be sentenced to death in three separate States. Alton Coleman would be executed in Ohio and Debra Brown will spend the rest of her life in prison. In this article on My Crime Library we will take a closer look at Alton Coleman and Debra Brown.

Alton Coleman And Debra Brown Early Years

Alton Coleman was born in Illinois on November 6, 1955. Alton Coleman mother worked multiple jobs and Coleman was raised by his grandmother. During his middle school years he would drop out and would be arrested six times for sex related crimes between 1973 and 1983. Ultimately two of the cases would be dropped. Two of the cases he was acquitted. Alton was scheduled to go on trial in Illinois for the sexual assault of a fourteen year old girl when the multi state crime spree began

Debra Brown was born in Illinois on November 11, 1962. She has a borderline intellect and suffered a severe head injury as a child. At the time she met Alton Coleman in 1983 she was engaged to another man however she would leave him to go with Alton. Debra Brown before the crime spree had no criminal record.

Alton Coleman And Debra Brown Murders

The multi state crime spree began in Wisconsin. Alton Coleman had befriended a single mother and soon after her nine year old daughter, Vernita Wheat, went missing on May 29, 1984. A few weeks later the little girls body would be found she had been sexually assaulted, tortured and strangled with a ligature.

Soon after in Gary Indiana Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would abduct two little girls, nine year old Annie and her seven year old niece Tamika Turks, who would be sexually assaulted. Annie would survive the brutal assault however seven year old Tamika would not.

Donna Williams was reported missing the same time as the little girls were abducted. Her body would be found in a river in Detroit Michigan a month later. The woman had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a ligature.

In Michigan Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would break into the home of an elderly couple who were badly beaten and robbed.

In early July 1984 a woman in Ohio family became concerned as she stopped communicating with them. When the family went to her home they would find her body along with her nine year old son hidden in a crawlspace of the home. Both had been strangled with ligatures.

Later that same day Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would force their way into the home of a couple who were brutally beaten and robbed. Oddly Alton and Debra would stay at a local Revered home and attended church services.

The next week Alton and Debra would abduct a fifteen year old girl, Tonnie Storey, whose body would be found eight days later. Police would discover an item stolen earlier in the crime spree under the teenagers body which would lead the FBI to place Alton Coleman on their Top Ten Most Wanted List

A day after the abduction of Tonnie Storey Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would break into another home where the woman was sexually assaulted and beaten to death. The woman’s husband would survive a brutal beating and would contact police. The man would tell police that Alton and Debra came over regarding a camper for sale and soon after the attack began

The vehicle stolen from the couple was found in Kentucky days later where Alton Coleman and Debra Brown kidnapped a college professor and stole his car plus drove back to Ohio with him locked in the trunk. The college professor was later rescued.

Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would head back to Illinois. Along the way way they would steal yet another vehicle and kill its owner.

Soon after arriving in Illinois Alton Coleman and Debra Brown would be arrested.

Alton Coleman and Debra Brown Trials

Due to the fact that the crimes committed by Alton Coleman and Debra Brown covered such a large area it took awhile to plan out the course of action in terms of prosecution. Michigan was ruled out pretty quickly as it did not have the death penalty.

In Ohio Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were convicted of the sexual assaults and murders of Tonnie Storey and Marlene Walters however they were not convicted of the murders of Virginia and Rachelle Temple. The two however were sentenced to death for the murders of Tonnie and Marlene. The pair would later be sentenced to twenty years in Federal Prison for transporting the college professors across state lines.

Alton Coleman Execution

Alton Coleman would be executed in Ohio on April 26, 2002 by lethal injection. For his last meal Alton had filet mignon, fried chicken breasts, salad, sweet potatoes, french fries, collard greens, onion rings, cornbread, broccoli, biscuits and gravy plus a cherry Coke.

Debra Brown Prison

Debra Brown borderline mental intellect has kept her from being executed and Ohio and Indiana no longer include her on their list of death row inmates. As of 2020 Debra Brown is in prison in Ohio

Debra Brown 2021 Information

Number W025932

DOB 11/11/1962

Gender Female

Race Black

Admission Date 01/14/1991

Institution Dayton Correctional Institution

Status INCARCERATED

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n the words of prosecutors here, Alton Coleman is a “poster child” for capital punishment, a cold-blooded killer whose murder spree in the summer of 1984 terrorized the Midwest, leaving eight people slain and Coleman with death sentences in three states.

But to his defenders, Coleman is exactly the kind of killer who should be spared: a man whose mother left him in a garbage can as an infant and whose grandmother subjected him to physical and sexual abuse–a history that coupled with brain damage prompted one doctor to describe Coleman’s mind as a “damaged container with damaged contents.”

Sitting in one of the low-slung buildings that house Death Row here, his hands and legs shackled with steel chains, Coleman looks back on both sides of his life and views it as something of a waste. His gaze is firm, his words are measured.

“I think I was doomed,” Coleman, now 46, said in an interview at Mansfield Correctional Institution. “Perhaps I should have died at birth.”

Instead, Coleman is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Friday morning. On Wednesday, Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency, saying no court has questioned Coleman’s responsibility for the slaying of the suburban Cincinnati woman–the case leading to Friday’s execution.

But as the execution nears, nagging questions about Coleman’s cases are unresolved, especially in Ohio, suggesting that even death penalty cases where guilt and innocence are clear–and where the crimes are truly horrible–can leave troubling legacies.

Last year, a panel of judges from the federal appeals court in Cincinnati reversed the death sentence in one of Coleman’s cases in Ohio–the murder of teenager Tonnie Storey–because his defense attorneys did no investigation of his upbringing.

That investigation, the appeals court said, would have uncovered a background so horrific that there was a strong likelihood that at least one juror would have been swayed to spare Coleman from a death sentence.

But in his other case–the murder of 44-year-old Marlene Walters, for which he is being executed, and the attempted murder of her husband, Harry–a different panel of judges from the same federal appeals court let the sentence stand, though the attorneys in that case also did no investigation of Coleman’s childhood.

The federal appeals court as a whole has refused to resolve the inconsistency, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to deal with it as well.

“Two different panels coming to contrary conclusions–that has to be resolved one way or the other,” said Dale Baich, a federal public defender in Arizona who has represented Coleman for more than a decade. “It comes down to basic fairness.”

`I wasn’t used to normal’

By virtually all accounts, Coleman’s upbringing was terrible. He never knew his father, and his mother–a drug user and prostitute who was institutionalized several times–abandoned Coleman in a trash can as an infant, court records show.

He was rescued by his grandmother, but under her care he was often neglected and subjected to physical and sexual abuse while living in Waukegan’s depressed and crime-ridden Market Street section of town, court records show. She practiced voodoo and often enlisted Coleman’s help, having him collect dirt from cemeteries and kill small animals for her potions, records show.

“I wasn’t used to normal,” Coleman said. “I didn’t know what normal was.”

Coleman also suffered brain damage–believed to be linked to his mother’s drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy and his childhood head injuries–making it difficult for him to make rational decisions, a condition worsened by his own drug abuse. Thomas Thompson, a New Mexico neuropsychologist hired by Coleman’s attorneys, described Coleman’s brain as a “damaged container with damaged contents.”

Prosecutors dispute Coleman’s claim of brain damage.

In a plea for mercy, Coleman also pointed to prison records that show he has been a model inmate, with no violations in 17 years. Two guards offered sworn affidavits of Coleman’s good behavior behind bars–a prison record that the prosecutors ridiculed as meaningless.

Coleman’s explanation for his murder spree is simple–drugs.

“All I know, I had to get narcotics to keep going,” Coleman said. “My main goal was to use drugs. I had no other destination whatsoever.”

Coleman’s case also has been dogged by charges that Cincinnati prosecutors improperly rejected nine of 12 blacks from the jury pool. The issue has not been addressed by appeals courts because Coleman’s original appeals lawyers did not raise it, and so it was forfeited for future appeals.

Those issues are set against one of the nation’s worst crime sprees, which Coleman undertook with a girlfriend, Debra Brown. She faces a death sentence in Indiana, and long prison terms in Ohio and Illinois.

“If there is ever a case that cries out for justice, it is this case,” said Ohio’s Hamilton County prosecuting attorney, Mike Allen. “This case cries out for Alton Coleman to pay the ultimate penalty for crimes he committed.”

Said Harry Walters, who was permanently disabled by Coleman’s attack: “It’s time to do it. I sincerely mean it. Execution is the solution.”

Strangled girl was first

The spree began in May 1984 in Kenosha, where Coleman, using the name Robert Knight, befriended Juanita Wheat and earned her trust. Coleman then kidnapped and murdered her 9-year-old daughter, Vernita. Vernita’s body, strangled and bound with wire, was found in an abandoned building in Waukegan.

At the time, he had already served time for rape and deviate sexual assault, had been arrested on other occasions for sex charges, and was facing a current rape charge, records show.

“I want to see something happen to him. I want to see it happen and feel it all,” said Juanita Wheat, now 55 and a nurse’s assistant in Kenosha who plans to travel to Ohio to witness Coleman’s execution.

“Justice is for all,” she added, “and you get what you deserve.”

As police pursued Coleman, he and Brown traveled the Midwest, stealing cars to get from Illinois to Indiana and through Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, leaving dead bodies almost everywhere they stopped.

In Gary, he was convicted of killing Tamika Turks, 7, and in Detroit, Toledo and Indianapolis, he and Brown are believed to have murdered others, though Coleman was not prosecuted.

In Norwood, a working-class suburb of Cincinnati, Coleman and Brown stopped at the Walterses’ home to try to buy a camper that the Ohio couple were selling. Inside, they beat both, tied them up and left them for dead. Marlene Walters suffered some two dozen wounds to her head. Coleman and Brown were arrested a week later as they sat in the bleachers at an Evanston park.

“His alleged tough childhood does not excuse him from suffering the ultimate punishment,” said Allen, the Ohio prosecutor. “Alton Coleman is pure evil.”

Days before his execution, Coleman, bowed his head, said that he was remorseful and that he was preparing himself to die.

“I take responsibility for what I did,” he said. “I’ve messed up terribly in this life.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-04-25-0204250300-story.html

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Ashlee Martinson Teen Killer Murders Parents

Ashlee Martinson was seventeen years old when she would murder her mother and stepfather who according to her were highly abusive. Ashlee Martinson would lock her siblings in a room before shooting her stepfather and then fatally stabbing her mother. Martinson would then flee the crime scene with her older boyfriend.

This teen killer would end up being convicted of two counts of second degree murder and sentenced to twenty three years in prison

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Ashlee Martinson – Current Facility – Taycheedah Correctional Institution – Release Date – 2038

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The appeals court has sided with the circuit court in its denial of a new trial for Ashlee Martinson.

Martinson was sentenced in June 2016 to 23 years in prison for the murders of Thomas and Jennifer Ayres. Jennifer Ayres, 40 and Thomas Ayres, 37, were found in their home outside of Rhinelander in the Town of Piehl.

In December 2017, Martinson’s attorney stated the courts reasoning that Ashlee Martinson was a “normal 17-year-old” is inaccurate. And asked for a sentence reduction.

Her attorney, Mark Schoenfeldt said Martinson had been physically, mentally and emotionally abused by the adults in her life and wasn’t capable of making rational decisions. He said Martinson had reasonable fear of future violence and felt she had no other options.

Court documents state Martinson , fed up with abuse by Thomas Ayres towards her mother, grabbed a gun and intended to kill herself. Thomas Ayres knocked on Martinson’s door and was subsequently shot twice resulting in his death. Martinson’s attorney writes that she believed her mother would comfort her following the incident, but instead became upset and came at Martinson with a knife. Martinson got the knife away from her mother and stabbed her 30 times.

Then-Attorney General Brad Schimel stated the court acted appropriately during sentencing as text messages show Martinson , one day before killing the Ayres, had wrote she hated her parents and wanted to kill Thomas.

Late last month, the appeals court wrote, “Under the circumstances here, we conclude the circuit court did not erreoneously exercise its
sentencing discretion when it considered that Martinson had a choice whether to kill.”

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Ashlee Martinson is currently incarcerated at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution

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Ashlee Martinson is scheduled for release in 2038

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When Ashlee A. Martinson shot and killed her stepfather and stabbed her mother over 30 times on March 7, 2015, it came just moments after she considered using the shotgun on herself.

That was one of many revelations into the home life and history of both Martinson and her mother contained in a 26-page attachment that was filed with her plea paperwork Friday.

The last paragraph of the attachment sums up the problem judge Michael Bloom is faced with on June 17 when he must hand down sentence on her two guilty pleas to the two counts of second degree intentional homicide.

“The defendant turned 17 years old the day prior to the homicides. Had the homicides occurred two (2) days prior, the defendant would have sought to be adjudicated delinquent as a minor rather than convicted as an adult, and by the law placed in a correctional facility for minors only until she reaches 25 years of age, rather than the substantially greater penalty she faces in an adult penal facility,” her lawyers Thomas Wilmouth and Amy Ferguson said in the document.

The rest of the attachment spelled out in stark and graphic detail the physical, mental, verbal and even sexual abuse Ashlee Martinson suffered at the hands of the abusive spouses of her mother, Jennifer Ayers.

Backed by police and court records from Kansas, Colorado and North Dakota, the attachment went into great detail on how Jennifer Ayers was in a series of abusive relationships, and they all took their toll on Ashlee Martinson.

According to the attachment, Jennifer Ayers reported she had been the victim of serial sexual abuse at the hands of her biological father, which was investigated and led to her placement in foster care. She emancipated herself at age 16 and lived independently.

In her Kansas hometown, she married Jeremy Martinson, Ashlee’s father, and there are numerous citations of abuse before she received a divorce on Aug. 27, 2004, when Ashlee was 6 years old.

As her marriage to Jeremy Martinson was ending, Jennifer Martinson entered into a romantic relationship with Jerry Hrabe, moving into the trailer the mother and child received from her ex-husband. Hrabe had a long criminal history that included numerous violent encounters with law enforcement.

Jennifer Martinson told two people she knew in Hays, Kansas that Hrabe “consistently physically and sexually abused her.”

Ashlee Martinson was aware of the abuses, the report said. She would run and hide under the trailer or a nearby bridge when Hrabe’s violent temper erupted, which was usually intensified by alcohol. When Ashlee Martinson was 9 years old, a drunken Hrabe raped her, the report says.

In May 2008, with Hrabe nearing the end of a prison sentence, Jennifer Martinson sought to have a restraining order placed against him upon his release. Instead, she allowed Hrabe to move back into their trailer. By July 2009, he was back to beating her, threatening to kill her and also physically abusing Ashlee.

Eventually, Jennifer Martinson was able to let Hrabe’s parole agent know he was drinking in violation of the terms of his parole and he was arrested.

In November 2010, Jennifer Martinson met Thomas Ayers through an online dating service. It was a year after she was finally able to escape from Hrabe, but Ayers had his own extensive arrest record and several wives and former relationships marred by domestic violence in Colorado that were well documented in the attachment.

In March 2011, Jennifer Martinson took Ashlee to visit Ayers in his Bottineau, North Dakota home. Two months later the two moved in with him and his children from previous relationships. They married on Dec. 19, 2011.

Jennifer Ayers cut off contact with her entire family and friends in Kansas with the exception of occasional contact with a sister.

In the attachment, Ashlee Martinson reported the physical and emotional abuse started against her mother by Thomas Ayers began shortly after they married. She reported the first incident involved Thomas Ayers flying into a rage. He ripped up the kitchen counter, threw a trash can at the wall, slapped his wife, grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against a wall.

Ashlee also told of times her mother would be pushed, smacked, choked and even have a gun to her head.

“The triggers were if something was not cooked correctly, something was not cleaned or she did not rub his back effectively,” the attachment said.

In May 2013, Ashlee Martinson was sent to live with her biological father in Kansas. An artist with a markedly dark artistic perspective, Jeremy Martinson influenced his daughter’s own creative nature.

In December 2013, police were sent to Jeremy Martinson’s house and he admitted to slapping his daughter. She also told police she was also the victim of “punching, shoving and kicking.”

Jeremy Martinson has made no effort since that day the police came to his house, and while aware of her killing her mother and stepfather, he has expressed no interest in assisting her or acting as her guardian.

“He expressed only concern about media reports of the case that would cast him in an unfavorable light,” the attachment said.

While her mother did not want her back, according to the attachment, Thomas Ayers did.

The family moved to the town of Piehl in the summer of 2014. According to the attachment, Ayers wanted “large and secluded land where he could hunt” despite the fact he was not supposed to own weapons, as a domestic abuser and convicted felon.

Ashlee Martinson’s three younger sisters all told captain Terri Hook of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, they all were spanked with a belt to the point they all expressed fear of Ayers. He also ruled the house and its occupants with an iron fist with extreme rules.

The girls could not have any visitors to the house, had to ride together on the school bus, and had to rise early to do chores around the house. At the time the two younger children were interviewed after the homicides, they reported the family had recently purchased two German shepherd puppies. They said they witnessed Thomas Ayers physically abuse the dog by choking it, throwing it around. Eventually, he killed the puppy in front of them.

Ashlee Martinson told Hook she witnessed all of the abuse of the people and animals in the home at the hands of Thomas Ayers. She also said her mother would often join in the physical abuse. She added that while she was on the end of mental and verbal abuse at the hands of her stepfather, he did not sexually assault her.

While her rules were less strict than with her younger sisters, she still could not have anyone visit, was only allowed one social visit out of the house a week, had to account for her whereabouts at all times and had to turn over whatever she earned at her job to her stepfather.

In the days leading up to March 7, 2015, Ashlee Martinson was preparing to move out of the house and in with a friend.

The day before the homicides was her 17th birthday, and she sent her boyfriend Ryan Sisco a Facebook message saying “I woke up this morning to my step(-) dad beating my mom… I can’t take that (expletive) anymore, he’s gonna kill her if she doesn’t leave soon and I don’t wanna be around w[h]en that happens … I want to kill him so (expletive) bad, just take one of his guns and blow his (expletive) out.”

On the morning of March 7, 2015, Thomas and Jennifer Ayers confronted Ashlee about her relationship with Sisco, who was 22. She was forbidden from contacting him again and she had to give up her cellphone and keys.

Her mother said Ashlee should leave the house, but Thomas said she should be homeschooled, basically serve the next year under house arrest. Ashlee grabbed some belongings and walked to a neighbor’s house, but Thomas Ayers followed her and took her home.

“According to the defendant, when they arrived home, she went to her bedroom. For the purpose of killing herself, she armed herself with one of the many loaded shotguns lying around the house,” the attachment said.

Thomas Ayers came in the house, went upstairs, and started banging on Martinson’s bedroom door.

“According to the defendant, she at that time considered whether Thomas Ayers should die rather than she,” the attachment said.

One of the younger girls reported hearing two gunshots. The first struck Thomas Ayers in the neck.

“The second shot was a contact wound to his temple,” the attachment said. “The defendant indicates that second shot was fired to ensure that he was dead and could not hurt her.”

When Jennifer Ayers came upstairs, the attachment said that instead of getting the comfort she expected from her mother, Martinson faced being yelled at by her as she tended to Thomas. Martinson said her mother grabbed a knife and came at her, and a struggle ensued. She took the knife from her and stabbed her more than 30 times.

“The defendant acted upon provocation premised upon the reasonable belief in the conduct of Thomas Ayers and Jennifer Ayers, completely losing control at the time of the commission of the homicides, demonstrating anger, rage and exasperation as a person of ordinary intelligence and prudence under similar circumstances would have done,” the attachment said.

Ashlee Martinson was evaluated by doctors Brad E.R. Smith and Sheryl Dolezal who both diagnosed her as suffering from major depressive disorder as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. They concluded she had likely been suffering some level of depression symptoms off and on since about age 8, which became noticeably more intense at around 15.

“The doctors believe the defendant has been the victim of many types of abuse and trauma,” the attachment said. “She has personally experienced physical, sexual and verbal abuse. She has also directly witnessed the physical, sexual and verbal abuse of her mother and physical and verbal abuse of her stepsisters and her half-sister.She has also witnessed the severe abuse of animals by Thomas Ayers.”

The decision facing Bloom is how to punish Ashlee Martinson for ending the cycle of abuse she had endured her entire, then 17-year-old life.