A Lucas County judge Tuesday sentenced two more people for their roles in the 2022 murders of two teenage boys whose bodies were found in the basement of a burned out house in North Toledo.
Judge Lori Olender sentenced Carrissa Eames, 24, to 12 to 15 years for two counts of complicity in felonious assault and two counts of complicity in the commission of kidnapping. Corbin Gingrich, 27, was sentenced to 20 to 25 years for two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of kidnapping.
They are the latest of a long line of involved parties to be sentenced to prison for their actions that led up to the murders of Ke’Marion Wilder, 16, and Kyshawn Pittman, 15.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2022, the Wilder and Pittman youths were kicked out of a party at Maumee Bay State Park and took an Uber to Eames and Gingrich’s house in the 500 block of Maumee Avenue.
One of the boys was believed to have taken a gun belonging to Gingrich, and, according to witness testimony, Gingrich and Cruz Garcia, 24, confronted the boys about the theft and then bound and pistol-whipped them in the basement of the Maumee Avenue home.
The boys, still bound, were then handed over to Charles Walker, 34, and Brent Kohlhofer, 42, who put them in the trunk of a car and drove off. Two weeks later, on Dec. 16, police found the boys’ bodies in a burned-out basement of a house in the 3000 block of Chase Street.
A coroner’s report found that the boys were dead before the house was set on fire.
In early June, Judge Olender sentenced Walker and Kohlhofer to consecutive life sentences for murdering the two boys.
On Tuesday morning, young Pittman’s mother, Kenyatta Reynolds, delivered a victim impact statement during the sentencing for Eames.
Ms. Reynolds wore a red jersey with her son’s name and a picture of her son printed on the sleeve. Ms. Reynolds said she had approached Eames in the days following her son’s disappearance asking for information about her missing son, and Eames repeatedly lied to her.
“I went to Miss Eames as a mother — two, maybe three times,” said Ms. Reynolds. “I asked her ‘Have you seen my son, a little boy with dreads.’ She said ‘No, never seen him, he’s never come here.’”
Ms. Reynolds paused frequently while delivering her statement, overcome with tears.
“I wish maximum sentence on everybody involved,” she concluded. “Everybody was aware of what they were doing.”
When Eames delivered her statement after Ms. Reynold’s victim statement, she too was emotional.
“When I first came in here, I planned to ask for full release. But I take full responsibility,” Eames said through tears. “Being away from my children, I can only imagine what it feels like not to see your kids anymore. One day, I can go home to them, but there are two families who can’t.”
Eames’ defense attorney, James Popil, cited her limited criminal history, difficult childhood, and demonstrated remorse, asking Judge Olender to grant a minimum prison sentence or a longer nonprison sentence. Mr. Popil also asked for a merger of the felonious assault and kidnapping charges.
While handing down the sentence, Judge Olender was unsparing toward Eames, pointing out Eames wiped evidence off the gun used to beat the boys and that she lied to the boy’s families and law enforcement after the boys disappeared.
“This mother, these parents, never get to see their children again. And as you said, you will,” said Judge Olender. “And you lied to their faces.”
Judge Olender denied the request to merge the assault and kidnapping charges, saying that after hearing “every ounce” of testimony, she did not see how any of the charges in the case merged.
In her sentencing, Judge Olender ordered the complicity in felonious assault charges to run consecutively, one for each victim, and the complicity in commission of kidnapping charges to run concurrently. Eames faces a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 15 years in prison, with post-release control for 18 months to two years.
During the sentencing hearing for Gingrich immediately after, the issue of merging charges became more contentious.
Gingrich’s defense attorney, David Klucas, argued that because the involuntary manslaughter could not be completed without the kidnapping and the two offenses took place under the exact same legal and factual circumstances, the two offenses ought to be merged.
Judge Olender called an off-the-record conversation with Mr. Klucas and the prosecutor to discuss the issue — a move Mr. Klucas later objected to because the state had agreed to stay silent on the merger issue.
“Mr. Klucas, I do think you have a compelling argument,” said Judge Olender. “I might be wrong, but I need to be consistent. I still believe what I believe, based on case law.”
After rejecting the merger argument, Judge Olender sentenced Gingrich to a minimum of 20 and maximum of 25 years in prison, running his two involuntary manslaughter charges consecutively and his kidnapping charges concurrently.
During his hearing, Gingrich read a statement to the victims' families.
“No words I can say that show how much regret I have,” he read aloud, becoming audibly emotional. “I failed your children that night, and it’s something I think about every day.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0