RENNELL MALONE GETS LIFE
By CHANDA NEELY
A 47-year-old Lorain man was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for brutally beating and stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in 2001.
Rennell Malone stood emotionless as the family of Diane Utsey-Henderson wearing T-shirts with the victim’s picture on front spoke in Lorain County Common Please Court this afternoon.
“My great niece no longer has a (grandmother),” said Deloise Hopkins-Brantley, the victim’s sister. “My niece no longer has a mother. You didn’t have to kill my sister. She did not have to die like that.”
Prosecutors say Malone beat Utsey-Henderson, 44, with a glass serving platter and stabbed her with a knife while she slept in her bed at her Amherst Avenue, Lorain, home on the night of June 14, 2001 because he was angry after seeing her with another man. Malone maintains his innocence.
“He got the minimum sentence; so, what can you say,” said Ken Ortner, Malone’s attorney. “It’s very rare that a guy’s first offense is murder.”
Judge Mark Betleski, who heard the case without a jury, found Malone guilty of aggravated murder, felonious assault and two counts of murder on July 16 following a week-long trial. He was found not guilty of aggravated burglary.
Betleski said a blood stain matching Malone’s DNA found on the door of Utsey-Henderson’s bedroom led to the decision. Prosecutors said Malone’s DNA was also on a toothpick found in the kitchen of the home he once shared with the victim. Malone said he had not been in the home for eight months before the murder.
A 47-year-old Lorain man was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for brutally beating and stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death in 2001.
Rennell Malone stood emotionless as the family of Diane Utsey-Henderson wearing T-shirts with the victim’s picture on front spoke in Lorain County Common Please Court this afternoon.
“My great niece no longer has a (grandmother),” said Deloise Hopkins-Brantley, the victim’s sister. “My niece no longer has a mother. You didn’t have to kill my sister. She did not have to die like that.”
Prosecutors say Malone beat Utsey-Henderson, 44, with a glass serving platter and stabbed her with a knife while she slept in her bed at her Amherst Avenue, Lorain, home on the night of June 14, 2001 because he was angry after seeing her with another man. Malone maintains his innocence.
“He got the minimum sentence; so, what can you say,” said Ken Ortner, Malone’s attorney. “It’s very rare that a guy’s first offense is murder.”
Judge Mark Betleski, who heard the case without a jury, found Malone guilty of aggravated murder, felonious assault and two counts of murder on July 16 following a week-long trial. He was found not guilty of aggravated burglary.
Betleski said a blood stain matching Malone’s DNA found on the door of Utsey-Henderson’s bedroom led to the decision. Prosecutors said Malone’s DNA was also on a toothpick found in the kitchen of the home he once shared with the victim. Malone said he had not been in the home for eight months before the murder.
posted by TMC NEWS at 4:26 PM
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