Complications Delay Multiple Local Case Closures
By: Jenna Kuczkowski, Andrew Keiper, Anthony Dworning
Kent State and the surrounding area has been connected to a multitude of murders and killings over the past year, either through location or academic connections. Multiple students have been killed in separate incidents, and a number of killings have happened near the university’s campus. In most of these cases, investigations are ongoing and charges have yet to be filed or there is little to no movement in court proceedings.
Jacob Stockdale Case
The Jacob Stockdale case has been in limbo since Jacob allegedly shot his mother, Kathryn Stockdale, and his brother, James Stockdale, a Kent State business administration student, in what Stark police said is a double homicide.
Police investigating a 911 hang-up call on June 15 arrived at the home of the Stockdale Family in Bethlehem Township, where officers found James Stockdale and 54-year-old Kathryn Stockdale dead.
According to Stark County Prosecutor, John Ferrero, the investigation is still ongoing and once the results are finalized he and Stark County Sheriff, George Maier can proceed from there.
William Jones, an inspector with the Stark County Sheriff’s office, plans to meet with prosecutors within the next week to discuss charges. He said his department will make recommendations, but that official charges would come from the prosecutor’s office and the grand jury.
He believes Stockdale with be charged with something related to murder or manslaughter. Jones couldn’t say when he expected Stockdale to be charged, but that it probably wouldn’t be in the next week.
The Stark County Coroner’s Office confirmed that the autopsy reports for Kathryn and James have been finalized but could not be released due to the pending investigation.
Stockdale has been hospitalized for months after he allegedly attempted to kill himself at the scene of the crime. Jones said he hasn’t received an update on his medical condition, but that wouldn’t impede the presentation of charges.
Jones, however, could not say whether Stark County Jail could adequately care for Stockdale if he became incarcerated there. If the jail cannot care for him, Jones said other arrangements could be made.
George Brinkman Case
After starting the court proceedings over three months ago, George C. Brinkman Jr. is still only in the pretrial phase of prosecution for his alleged role in a triple murder.
On June 11, Taylor Pifer, a Kent State fashion student, was found dead in her mother’s house on Ridge Road in North Royalton, Ohio, along with Pifer’s mother, 45-year-old Suzanne Taylor, and her sister, 18-year-old Kylie Pifer, who studied biology at Bowling Green State University, who were also killed.
Brinkman was later apprehended and charged with the family’s murder: 13 counts of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, kidnapping and offenses against a human corpse.
Brinkman, 45, had his arrangement June 30 at the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court where he plead not guilty. Judge Brendan Sheehan also revoked Brinkman’s bond, originally set at $75 million.
Since then, Brinkman has had six pretrials has another scheduled for September 28.
According to court dockets through the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts, the reason for continuance is at the attorney’s request for more time to research the case further, which has been cited each time.
There has also been three state subpoenas issued and a request for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to provide any and all documentation in its possession regarding Brinkman such as medical records, disciplinary records, and psychiatric records, to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office for purposes of discovery.
If convicted, Brinkman would be eligible for the death penalty, according to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
A motion was filed on Aug. 28 by one of Brinkman’s attorney’s, Fernando Mack to dismiss the capital components of the case “due to constitutional and international law violations”. That motion was later denied by judge Peter Corrigan on September 5.
Following his next pretrial on September 28, Brinkman’s trial date has been set for March 26, 2018 by judge Corrigan. In addition, the judge ordered the defense’s expert source report to be finished by December 29, 2017 and the state experts report due by January 31, 2018. The motion hearing is set for March 21, 2018 according to court dockets.
Separately, on June 13, the Stark County Sheriff’s Department charged Brinkman with the deaths of a Stark County couple — Rogell Eugene John, 71, and his wife Roberta Ray John, 64 — who were found dead June 12 in their Lake Township home.
Inspector William Jones with the Stark County Sheriff’s Office said they still intend for Brinkman to be charged in Stark for murders at some point.
Javon Thomas Case
Javon Thomas is still awaiting trial in the Portage County jail after the double murders in Ravenna. Thomas is accused of killing Brian Brack, 24 of Canton and Austin Tiller, 20 of Cuyahoga Falls back in January of this year.
When police arrived on the scene on January 10, they found Brack and Tiller dead in addition to another woman who was shot but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Thomas was arraigned in the Portage County courthouse by Judge Laurie Pittman on January 13. Since then, there have been 21 other pre-trial, discovery hearings, and status conferences.
One of the most recent pre trials took place on September 18. During this hearing Thomas’s Attorney Thomas Dicaudo tried to argue to keep the evidence from self defense expert witness Gary Rini.
Neni was under subpoena and failed to show up to argue to keep his work on file for the trial. Judge Pittman and the state expressed their dislike of the report.
“This is the worse expert report I have ever seen,” Pittman said to the defense during the hearing. “There is nothing here for you to hang your hat on nor for the state to tear apart.”
Pittman said the report lacked any evidence to prove to the Thomas was acting in self defense at the time of both murders due to its poor execution and lack of specifics.
The judge determined that this evidence was not going to allowed into trail, and Thomas attorneys was denied his request to have Rini add to the report.
The criminal trial is set for October 3 at 8:30 a.m. at the Portage County Courthouse.
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Jayquon Tillman Case
It’s been nearly four months after Jayquon Tillman was fatally shot at a house party near Kent State University, and authorities are still working to identify those responsible for the young student’s death.
The Portage County Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the shooting, but don’t expect any arrests to be made in the immediate future, according to Captain Larry Limbert. He said that because the investigation is ongoing and open, he couldn’t release any information about potential suspects or leads.
Limbert said it was too early to predict any potential charges that would be made in the shooting. He said the department is following all leads and working through a lot information related to the case.
The 18-year-old student from Eastern Michigan University was shot late into the night on Friday, May 5. Portage County Sheriff’s deputies were at the scene to try and quiet the party when Tillman and another woman were shot, according to Cleveland.com.
Tillman was well-regarded among his peers at Eastern Michigan. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, the Kings of Color Student Organization and involved with the Washtenaw County My Brother’s Keeper Young Brother’s Leadership Council.
After his death, many of his peers took to social media to share their grief. A GoFundMe account was started to help his family shoulder funeral costs. Tillman was the oldest of four siblings.
Check out the cases update me and my group did in #JMCRPP !https://t.co/APpnaI3JRF
— Jenna Kuczkowski (@jkucz13) September 19, 2017
