By Brett Milam
Editor
After Wade Winn pleaded guilty in the murder of Deputy Bill Brewer in September, that took one murder trial off the 2020 docket: two more remain, with a third added on Oct. 3.
Angelina Hamrick, 32, was arrested on July 6 in connection with the death of her 43-year-old husband’s death.
At the Oct. 3 hearing before Judge Jerry McBride, Angelina’s trial date was set for Feb. 10, 2020 to run through Feb. 21, 2020.
Jason Hamrick was found dead in a ditch in the 2400 block of Swings Corner Point Isabel Road Tate Township with a gunshot to the head.
Angelina allegedly committed the crime with her 33-year-old co-conspirator, Michael Clark.
Clark is from Abilene, Texas, and was a Tech Sergeant with the United States Air Force, and was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, the same Air Force Base Jason had previously been stationed at.
According to court documents, Jason and Angelina began divorce proceedings Jan. 23, 2018. The divorce was initiated by Jason. The divorce was still ongoing, where a pre-trial before Judge Kathleen Rodenberg with Domestic Relations Court was scheduled on July 1.
The couple had three children together, and according to reports, Angelina lost custody of the children in February.
Police believe it was Angelina who allegedly fired the gun, and the slaying is believed to have occurred two days earlier on June 28 at the couple’s residence at 2540 Swings Corner Point Isabel Road.
According to police, Angelina told them she last saw Jason at their home on June 28, and that she conversed multiple times with her boyfriend, Michael, about killing Jason.
However, Clark “misinterpreted her meaning.”
Clark also told police, according to documents, that he had conversed with Angelina “over a period of time how they would end the life of Jason Hamrick.”
“It is known that Angelina Hamrick contacted Michael Clark on June 28, 2019 telling him, ‘I did it,'” court documents said.
Angelina has been charged with one count of aggravated murder.
She is still in Clermont County Jail held on $2 million bond. She pleaded not guilty on Aug. 14.
Clark has been charged with one count of felony conspiracy to commit aggravated murder. He pleaded not guilty on Aug. 7.
He’s headed to trial McBride on Jan. 13, 2020 to run through Jan. 16, 2020.
Clark posted his $10,000 bond in August.
Miami Twp. murder trial also in February 2020
Bryson Michaelis, 20, also has set in 2020, with Judge Victor Haddad setting it for Feb. 11, to run through Feb. 25, 2020, if necessary.
Michaelis’ bond was set at $2 million.
He’s accused of killing Kristopher Jordan Ketring in Miami Township on June 11. At the time of the shooting on Wards Corner Road, five other adults and two children were in the house.
Michaelis also had a juvenile with him.
Ishmail faces trial, and the potential of the death penalty
Jabar Muhammed Ismail, 38, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, and one count of kidnapping on April 4.
Ishmail allegedly held Kailin Jones, 25, at the Days Inn, located at 4056 Mt. Carmel Tobasco Road on March 14, and then killed her.
A day after the alleged murder, he pleaded not guilty. No bond was set in the case; Ishmail is still in Clermont County Jail.
Police said Ishmail made “inconsistent statements about what occurred.” Gregory Meyers, Ishmail’s defense attorney, since filed a motion in August to suppress statements Ishmail made to police.
Meyers, in his motion, said Ishmail “repeatedly invoked his right to silence yet, instead of scrupulously honoring that request as required, the police repeatedly questioned him thereafter.”
Any statements obtained by the police are in violation of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, Meyers said.
Ishmail is also facing the possibility of the death penalty, which Meyers also filed a motion in August to dismiss that component.
In his motion, Meyers said the death penalty in Ohio is unconstitutional.
“The Ohio scheme is unconstitutional because it imposes an impermissible risk of death on capital defendants who choose to exercise their right to a jury trial,” Meyers said, in part.
Meyers filed 31 other defense motions including to exclude evidence relating to other crimes, allowing the defense to argue last, and to instruct jurors that they may consider residual doubt as a mitigating factor.
A number of those motions are related to rebuttal of the death penalty in the event Ishmail is convicted of aggravated murder.
The state offered its reply to each motion on Sept. 27.
The next hearing is Oct. 9 to decide on the motion to suppress.
Ishmail’s trial is set for May 4, 2020 before McBride, to run through May 29, 2020, if necessary.
2017 murder case revolves around not guilty by reason of insanity
The fourth murder case in Clermont County stretches back to 2017.
Steven Mages, 40, is alleged to have killed Natasha Marie Wilson, who was pregnant at the time, on Aug. 30, 2017. He faces the death penalty in the case.
On Nov. 20, 2018, Mages was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
The court ruled that because of his mental condition, Mages “he is now capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against him, but remains incapable of assisting counsel in preparing for his defense.”
However, the court also ruled that that there is a “substantial possibility” that he will become competent to stand trial within one year, if provided proper treatment. To which, the court ordered such treatment.
Mages is currently receiving treatment at Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare; specifically, the Timothy Moritz Maximum Security Forensic Hospital, based out of Columbus.
By Aug. 7, Mages was deemed competent to stand trial before Haddad, to which Mages pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity on Aug. 28.
A renewed NGRI plea and psychiatric examination of his mental condition at the time of the offense was filed.
That report is due by Nov. 11.