US Supreme Court rejects appeal by convicted killer of 11
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Cleveland man sentenced to die for killing 11 women and hiding the remains in and around his home.
At issue were arguments by 58-year-old Anthony Sowell over the closure of an evidence hearing during his trial and his rejected offer to plead guilty.
Sowell lost the argument in the Ohio Supreme Court and then appealed to the nation’s high court, which turned down the appeal Monday.
Sowell’s attorneys objected to the trial judge’s closing of a pre-trial hearing over the admissibility of Sowell’s videotaped police interrogation of more than 11 hours.
The judge ultimately allowed the use of the video, and most of it was played during Sowell’s trial.
A message was left with Sowell’s attorney.
2 toddlers found in river after wandering off at Ohio park
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Police say two unresponsive toddlers were pulled from a southwestern Ohio river and taken to a hospital after wandering away from a family gathering at a park.
Authorities didn’t immediately provide an update on the boys’ conditions after they were pulled from the Great Miami River and hospitalized Sunday night in Dayton. Park police indicated that one of the children was responsive and crying by the time he was put into an ambulance.
Recordings of 911 calls indicated that people at the scene attempted to revive the boys using CPR after passing bicyclists spotted them in the water.
Child among 5 hurt as cars, truck collide on Ohio road
MARION, Ohio (AP) — The State Highway Patrol says an 11-year-old child was among five people hurt in a three-vehicle crash in north-central Ohio.
The Marion Star reports two drivers were flown to Columbus hospitals after the collisions Sunday afternoon about 45 miles (72 kilometers) to the north in Marion County.
State troopers say a car failed to yield to oncoming traffic at an intersection and hit a pickup truck, which then struck a third vehicle.
An adult and the child passenger in the truck also were taken to hospitals in Columbus. Authorities didn’t immediately release information about the extent of their injuries.
No charges were immediately filed, but troopers say the crash remains under investigation.
Ohioan sculpts statues for Georgia anti-terrorism memorial
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A squad of 7-foot (2.1-meter) infantrymen cast in bronze for an anti-terrorism memorial is being delivered to a Georgia museum this week by the central Ohio sculptor who created the statues.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Army veteran Alan Cottrill and a team of artists spent more than a year making the nine soldiers for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial. It’s scheduled to be dedicated later this month at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia, near Fort Benning.
The 750-pound (340-kilogram) statues depict how post-Sept. 11 U.S. combat soldiers look, including details of their uniforms and weapons.
Cottrill says the pieces had to convey toughness and intensity co-existing with vulnerability and fear. The sculptor from Zanesville, Ohio, says he hopes viewers will feel the emotion, too.
Police: Officer shot 2 men threatening others with gun
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio say an officer shot and wounded two men who were threatening people with a gun during a large fight outside an Akron nightclub.
Officials say both men, ages 21 and 23, were seriously injured. Police say they were threatening officers and other people in a downtown bar district early Sunday when an officer opened fire. Police say shots were fired back at the officers, but they were not hurt.
Investigators say a handgun was recovered near one of the men.
The officer who fired the shots has been placed on paid administrative leave. Investigators have not released his name or the names of the injured men.
