Tagged: Crime

Most violent crimes in Ohio are committed by people who have at least two felony convictions. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports on a bill coming this week that seeks to cut down on gun-related crimes by locking up those people.

A woman who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her 14-year-old daughter who had cerebral palsy and weighed 28 pounds when she died will be sentenced in southwest Ohio. 

Forty-two-year-old Angela Norman will be sentenced Thursday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in Dayton.

Norman pleaded guilty April 6 to a first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter and to single misdemeanor and felony counts of endangering children.

A trial is set to begin today for a nurse charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who weighed 28 pounds when she died last year.

Mollie Parsons of Dayton also is charged with failing to provide for a functionally impaired person and tampering with records.

Authorities say Makayla Norman had bed sores and showed other signs of neglect when she died on March 1, 2011. They say 42-year-old Parsons and the girl's mother were supposed to care for the girl at the Normans' home.

The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down a state law requiring juvenile sex offenders convicted in juvenile courts to register as sex offenders for life.

Today (Tuesday) the court ruled 5-2 that the requirement enacted in a 2007 law is unconstitutional because it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and violates children's due process rights.

Justice Paul Pfeifer said the mandatory registration undercuts the rehabilitative purpose of the juvenile system.  He said it also eliminates the role of juvenile judges in determining the best punishment for young offenders.