CANTON Large photos of a happy and vibrant Kerry-Anne Mumford were shown to the man who killed her and dumped her body in a creek.
The adult daughter of the 41-year-old Mumford wanted Scott A. Birch to be forced to confront cheerful photographs of the woman whose life he brutally ended.
During the Birch s sentencing hearing on Friday, Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Barr displayed the images in front of a video monitor linked to the Stark County Jail, where the defendant stood with his attorney.
The Massillon woman was a daughter, girlfriend, mother of three children. She was cherished by those who sat in Stark County Common Pleas Court, expressing both the great loss they are suffering as well as anger toward Birch.
CANTON Judge Chryssa Hartnett paused during the sentencing hearing of a Nimishillen Township man Wednesday who pleaded guilty to child rape charges.
Hartnett aimed her words at Robert E. Lee, 51, whom she sentenced to 20 years in prison in Stark County Common Pleas Court. I listened to it come out of your own mouth (in statements to police) . I heard you admit the unspeakable things that you did, she said. . This is not a child making an accusation, this is a child finally having enough, bringing it to adults attention and the perpetrator acknowledging it.
Lee pleaded guilty to three charges of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition and single counts of sexual battery and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
CANTON A man pleaded guilty Friday to killing a woman whose body was found in Sandy Creek in Pike Township in June.
Scott A. Birch, 48, who doesn t have a permanent address listed in court records but formerly lived in Ravenna and Minerva City, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and single counts of felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
Birch stabbed 41-year-old Kerry-Anne Mumford multiple times in the neck, according to court records.
The killing happened on June 19 in the 5300 block of Gracemont Street SW.
Stark County Common Pleas Judge Kristin Farmer scheduled Birch s sentencing for Jan. 22. Birch faces up to 29 years to life in prison.
JACKSON TWP. The Stark County Prosecutor s Office will determine if charges will be filed in a November fatal motor vehicle crash where a 23-year-old woman was killed.
Jackson Township police are close to completing an investigation of the Nov. 21 crash in which the driver of one vehicle Abigail O. Vanest of Perry Township was killed.
The suspected driver of the second vehicle, Mario Lerario of Jackson Township, fled from the scene, investigators said. Police have learned that Lerario is in a neighboring state, where he was admitted to a hospital for treatment.
Jackson Police Chief Mark Brink said a lawyer representing Lerario has been in contact with local police. Brink declined to identify the neighboring state where Lerario was hospitalized.