31 August 2018 :

Hamilton County Judge Patrick Dinkelacker sentenced serial killer Anthony Kirkland to death. Kirkland, 49, Black, between 2006 and 2009, murdered two women and two girls in the Cincinnati area, following a 16-year prison term for the 1987 killing of his girlfriend. Today was sentenced for the deaths of 13-year-old Esme Kenney and 14-year-old Casonya Crawford. Kirkland, 49, was sentenced for murdering Casonya in 2006 and Esme in 2009. He's already serving life prison terms for the deaths of Mary Jo Newton, 45 and Kimya Rolison, 25, both in 2006. Kirkland served a 16-year prison term for killing Leona Douglas, 28, in 1989. Judge Dinkelacker agreed with the jury and issued the death penalty in the retrial of Anthony Kirkland for the deaths of Esme Kenney, 13, and Casonya 'Sharee' Crawford, 14. Kirkland was previously sentenced to death for killing the teenagers, but the Ohio Supreme Court overturned the sentence saying Deters' statements during closing arguments "were improper and substantially prejudicial" when he said Kirkland was already serving life prison terms and that Esme and Casonya's deaths should not be "freebies."