Anthony Sowell (Serial Killer) Trial

[koko]

tweets from inside the courtroom Friday 8/12/2011

@PDSowellTRIAL
Stan Donaldson

• #anthonysowell will be sentenced this morning at Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
  
  
• #anthonysowell will have to listen to impact statements from relatives of victims and women who survived his attacks.
  
  
• #anthonysowell is sitting in court with his eyes closed.
  
  
• Judge Ambrose asked #anthonysowell if there was anything he wanted to say. Sowell eyes stayed shut and he did not say anything.
  
  
• #anthonysowell refused to sign a document. He is still sitting in court with his eyes closed.
  
  
• Judge Amborse is reading details of trial. He is talking about victims individually and how they were found inside of the home.
  
  
• #anthonysowell continues to sit in court with his eyes shut.
  
  
• Judge Ambrose is talking about military and personal life of #anthonysowell that was revealed during the trial.
  
  
• "The court gives no weight to the defendant's expression of remorse," Ambrose said in #anthonysowell trial.
  
  
• A rape victim has started to give her impact statement in #anthonysowell trial.
  
  
• "I forgive him," she said.
  
  
• He didn't kill me, he killed what I was," another woman who #anthonysowell raped. "I have to forgive him so I can move on with my life."
  
  
• Donnita Carmichael is reading a statement on behalf of her family. #anthonysowell
  
  
• "I will never forgive you," Donnita Carmichael said. #anthonysowell eyes are closed as people give impact statements.
  
  
• "Your going to hell for your actions," she said. #anthonysowell
  
  
• Kyana Hunt, daughter of victim Nancy Cobbs, sharing her victim impact statement.
  
  
• Jim Allen, father of Leshanda Long, giving his impact statement. He is thanking the court and jurors. He said he has to forgive Sowell.
  
  
• "This might be a hollow victory," Allen said. Florence Bray, mother of Crystal Dozier, is now delivering her victim impact statement.
  
  
• Debra Williams sharing her statement. Relatives of Hunter family about to speak. #anthonysowell
  
  
• "You gave them no mercy, no compassion," Denise Hunter said to #anthonysowell in court. His eyes are still closed in the courtroom.
  
  
• "Dead man walking," Denise Hunter said in court. #anthonysowell
  
  
  
• Yvonne Williams, mother of Tishana Culver, just thanked the jury.
  
  
• Adlean Atterberry, mother of Michelle Mason, is giving her impact statement. Several relatives are with her, including victims' two sons.
  
  
• "We hope God has mercy on your soul," Atterberry said. She couldn't finish her statement.
  
  
• Donald Smith, father of Kim Smith, sharing his impact statement. "He took my heart," Smith said.
  
  
• Shanisha Collins, relative of Janice Webb, sharing impact statement. She is speaking on behalf of the Webb family. #anthonysowell
  
  
• "She was not just another one, she was our one," Collins said. #anthonysowell
  
  
• Dorothy Pollard, aunt of Diane Turner, just shared her statement. "May your pacemaker stop and you die tonight," Pollard said.
  
  
• Judge Ambrose is reading over counts. He sentenced #anthonysowell to death.
  
  
• #anthonysowell has not opened his eyes as Ambrose reads over his sentence.
  
  
• #anthonysowell moved a little bit in his chair, but he closed his eyes again. Attorneys at side bar.
  
  
• John Parker just nudged #anthonysowell. He opened his eyes for a moment and then closed them. His eyes are open again.
  
  
• Judge Ambrose is thanking jurors for their participation.
  
  
• Ambrose set execution date for #anthonysowell on Oct. 29, 2012. Relatives of victims clapped inside courtroom.
  
  
• Jurors are hugging relatives inside courtroom. #anthonysowell
  

Family members of Anthony Sowell victims speak out at sentencing in Cleveland courthouse
Published: Friday, August 12, 2011, 10:46 AM Updated: Friday, August 12, 2011, 11:16 AM
By Michael Scott, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Family members of the murder victims of serial killer Anthony Sowell cried out this morning against the man who took their loved ones -- while Sowell sat silently in court, waiting to hear if a judge would sentence him to death.

“In my opinion you’re going to hell for your actions,” said Donnita Carmichael, daughter of murder victim Tonya Carmichael. “Anthony, you are an animal and hell awaits your arrival.

“I won’t stand up here and tell you that I’m not bitter, because I am. I’ll never forgive you.”

Carmichael read an impact statement for her entire family and said some members had forgiven Sowell.

A stream of victims began making statements around 10:45 -- revealing a similar mixture of pain, bitterness and some forgiveness..

Cuyahoga County Judge Dick Ambrose is expected to issue his sentence sometime in the next hour or so after family members -- or victims who survived a Sowell attack -- have an opportunity to speak.

Sowell, in handcuffs and staring down, was also given the opportunity to speak this morning, but remained silent. He also refused to sign a document given to him by Ambrose, leaving attorney John Parker to do so. He kept his eyes closed during most of the hearing.
Sowell was convicted July 22 of multiple counts of aggravated murder and offenses for the deaths of the women whose remains were discovered in and around his Imperial Avenue home in 2009. He also was found guilty of attempting to kill three other women.

Victim Shawn Morris said she had forgiven Sowell, but only after dealing with intense anger.

"When I left the court on July 6, I was consumed with anger, not just for what he did to me and the other ladies, but his total disregard for life, total lack of compassion.

“I passed by the mirror, my face was so angry I didn't recognize myself.”