Death Penalty

Caron E. Montgomery v. State of Ohio, Case No. 2012-1212

Franklin County Common Pleas Court

A three-judge panel has sentenced Caron E. Montgomery to death for the murders in Columbus of his former girlfriend Tia Hendricks, their 2-year-old son, and Hendricks' 10-year-old daughter. The Ohio Supreme Court is considering the appeal of his case and the death sentence.

Family and friends of Hendricks contacted the rental office for the apartment where she lived in November 2010 because she hadn't shown up for Thanksgiving dinner and didn't arrive at work the next day. Columbus police officers were called, and they entered Hendricks' apartment on the afternoon of Nov. 26. They discovered Hendricks and her two children, Tahlia and Tyron, dead from multiple stab wounds. Montgomery was found lying alive on a bed in a separate room.

Montgomery was charged with the murder of Hendricks, the aggravated murders (four counts) of the children, and domestic violence. The aggravated murder charges included various specifications, which require a greater penalty if certain facts are proven. In this case, the specifications allowed for the death penalty.

After waiving his right to a jury trial, Montgomery entered a guilty plea in May 2012 to all the counts and specifications. Evidence was then presented to the three-judge panel hearing his case. The panel found Montgomery guilty and, following a mitigation hearing, imposed a death sentence.

Montgomery's attorneys present seven arguments in the appeal to the Supreme Court and ask that the convictions be overturned, the death sentence be set aside, or a new trial be held.