Four years later, conviction and death sentence vacated in slaying of Kent State student and family
George Brinkman Jr. will face a retrial in Cuyahoga County after the Ohio Supreme Court upholds his appeal
Wyatt Loy
Taylor Pifer’s homicide sent shockwaves through Northeast Ohio in 2017, and after more than a year of hearings and a trial, justice seemed to prevail when George Brinkman Jr. pleaded guilty and was sent to death row.
In July, Ohio’s Supreme Court overturned Brinkman’s conviction in Cuyahoga County, citing the lower court’s failure to inform Brinkman of his right to question witnesses during the first of three pretrial hearings in November 2018. Brinkman pleaded guilty to the three murder charges in North Royalton as well as two additional murder charges in the deaths of Rogell John and his wife Roberta in Lake Township—the latter two offenses were prosecuted during a separate trial in Stark County.
“This monster admitted to having ripped Taylor and Kylie away from us— along with their mother—and yet because of a technicality, we have to navigate our way through this nightmare again?” said Brian and Sonya Pifer, Taylor and Kylie’s father and stepmother, in a joint statement. “We are appalled at the repeated instances of criminals’ rights being placed before the rights of victims and their families.”
Brinkman remains incarcerated and on death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, Ohio for the killings of the John couple.
“This is a very unfortunate ruling that will cause additional trauma for the families of these victims,” said Tyler Sinclair, a spokesperson for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, in a statement. “We remain committed to ensuring that this defendant is held accountable.”
Taylor Pifer, who was 21 when she died, studied at Kent State University’s School of Fashion and worked in the Fashion Management Store. Her sister Kylie, who was 18 at the time, was about to start her sophomore year studying biology at Bowling Green State University.
“They were amazing people and while they did not deserve death, they do not deserve this either,” said Erica Mohler, Taylor’s former roommate, in a statement to Reporting Public Policy. “I understand the need for a fair trial, but what is a retrial going to change? He’s already plead guilty.”
Brinkman’s attorney did not comment on the new trial.
In 2017, Mohler reached out to Kent State with hopes to dedicate a garden or bench on campus to Taylor. She spent the next year fundraising to put a plaque in honor of Taylor on an existing bench swing mere feet from Rockwell hall, where she studied fashion. It remains there today.
“Taylor was an amazing person and was kind to literally everyone she knew. I’m sad that justice has yet to be served now four years after her death,” Mohler said. “But every day I remember the positive attitude she had and try to reflect that in my everyday life in order to keep her spirit alive. I hope that regardless of how long justice takes, people remember her kind spirit every day.”
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