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When the three-judge panel in Hamilton County, Ohio, renders a verdict in the death sentence case of a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s small boy, it will be the first such verdict rendered by a panel of judges in the county in 15 years.
The court’s verdict in Amond Rainey’s case has not been set at this time. Last month, on September 8th, closing arguments were held in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. The three judges are Alison Hatheway, Tom Heekin, and Alan Triggs. “Overwhelming” scientific evidence, according to the prosecution, implicated Rainey in the 2008 murder of Josiya Eves, then 2 years old.
After examining Josiya, two doctors from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center concluded that the three skull fractures and lacerated liver she sustained could not have resulted from a single fall from a toilet. But according to Rainey, on August 25, 2014, the youngster was alone in the bathroom while brushing his teeth over the sink and slipped off the toilet seat, landing on the tile floor. This case has been going on since 2014 when 35-year-old Rainey was arrested and charged with aggravated murder. It took a while longer than expected for the trial to begin because Rainey’s lawyers were looking for witnesses to back up his claim that Josiya died in a fall. Two specialists, a forensic pathologist, and a biomechanical engineer testified for the defense, stating a fall from the toilet may have caused the injuries.
Please check out our previous article on the Brutal Murder Of a Gay Palestinian.
Daughter’s Story Hasn’t Altered
They were the only ones home that morning besides Rainey, Josiya, and Rainey’s then-7-year-old daughter. Rainey’s lawyers testified throughout the trial that the girl’s account hadn’t altered since she was examined by authorities shortly after Josiya was hospitalized with injuries from which he never recovered. The now-adolescent girl explained to the three judges that she had been getting ready in her room that morning when she heard a “boom.” She said, “I glance out the door and see my daddy running into the restroom.” She explained that Rainey had just entered the room from which he and Josiya’s mom shared a residence. According to her, she accompanied her father to the restroom, where dad was “bending down to Josiya, trying to rouse him up.”
Additionally, she claimed she had never seen him physically abuse Josiya or any other child. The youngster admitted to prosecutors that she had initially told police that she was afraid for her father. Rainey’s conduct that morning has been called into doubt by the prosecution. The man dialed the emergency number. Although the operator offered him urgent help, he declined and instead requested a transfer to University Hospital Medical Center. The call was cut short when he abruptly hung up on the consultant.
Attorneys for Rainey said their client tried to help and console Josiya by administering first aid. Rainey’s attorneys claimed in a pretrial motion that their client used suction to remove blood from the boy’s nose and airway. Rainey ended up being the one who took Josiya to the clinic. During the trial, prosecutors brought in the vacuum cleaner, noting that it was discovered in the Millvale home’s living room with what seemed to be blood dripping from it. This, they claimed, proved that Rainey had “cleaned up the crime scene.”
A panel’s 2007 verdict involving the death penalty
In 2007, the last death penalty case in Hamilton County was determined by a three-judge panel following a complete trial. Several previous instances that involved three judges resulted in guilty pleas, some of which occurred during the trial. Ralph “Ted” Winkler, who is now the probate court judge for the county, Norbert Nadel, who has since passed away, and Alex Triantafilou, who has served as the county Republican Party chairman for many years, served as the judges in the 2007 case. For the murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, Trustin Blue, Lamont Hunter was found guilty of aggravated murder and rape. Hunter, from Carthage, was accused of mutilating the youngster’s genitalia and “taking sadistic delight out of hurting” the boy. The jury unanimously agreed to impose the death penalty via lethal injection. Despite being 54 years old, Hunter has not given up on his legal battle.
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