Coonrod found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 20 years
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Wesley Coonrod has been found not guilty of murdering his 3- and 4-year-old sons and arson charges and guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Jurors did not find that Coonrod set the fire March 7 fire that killed Thomas and Stephen Coonrod, and acquitted him on charges of aggravated arson and two counts of murder.
Coonrod was sentenced to 10 years consecutive for 20 years.
Coonrod told the court he intends to appeal as soon as possible.
Mother of the victims Felicia Elliot could be heard crying and one juror sobbed and wiped tears from her eyes as Judge Rocky Coss read the verdicts.
Coss informed the court that the juror who was removed had informed the other jurors that a similar situation had occurred in her family regarding children and a fire, which had not been disclosed in jury selection.
This is the second time Coonrod has stood trial on the charges of murder.
Coonrod, 43, of Greenfield, was found guilty in October in Highland County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felony endangering children. He had faced aggravated murder charges with death penalty specifications stemming from a March fire in his apartment on Lafayette Street in Greenfield, during which his sons Thomas, 4, and Stephen, 3, were killed. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the aggravated murder charges, two charges of murder with lesser charges of manslaughter and reckless homicide, and aggravated arson. The state will not seek to retry him on the aggravated murder charges, so he is no longer facing the death penalty. The trial was moved to Pickaway County in so that a jury could be more easily seated than in Highland County.
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Jurors did not find that Coonrod set the fire March 7 fire that killed Thomas and Stephen Coonrod, and acquitted him on charges of aggravated arson and two counts of murder.
Coonrod was sentenced to 10 years consecutive for 20 years.
Coonrod told the court he intends to appeal as soon as possible.
Mother of the victims Felicia Elliot could be heard crying and one juror sobbed and wiped tears from her eyes as Judge Rocky Coss read the verdicts.
Coss informed the court that the juror who was removed had informed the other jurors that a similar situation had occurred in her family regarding children and a fire, which had not been disclosed in jury selection.
This is the second time Coonrod has stood trial on the charges of murder.
Coonrod, 43, of Greenfield, was found guilty in October in Highland County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felony endangering children. He had faced aggravated murder charges with death penalty specifications stemming from a March fire in his apartment on Lafayette Street in Greenfield, during which his sons Thomas, 4, and Stephen, 3, were killed. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the aggravated murder charges, two charges of murder with lesser charges of manslaughter and reckless homicide, and aggravated arson. The state will not seek to retry him on the aggravated murder charges, so he is no longer facing the death penalty. The trial was moved to Pickaway County in so that a jury could be more easily seated than in Highland County.
Check back to highlandcountypress.com and on facebook for more on this story.[[In-content Ad]]