A 14-year-old admitted in court on Nov. 10 that he killed his 64-year-old Fairfax neighbor earlier this year. Investigators said he planned the killing for months and communicated with others about it over social media.
As part of a plea deal, he will be sent to a youth prison until he is 21.
Few details about the Feb. 2 killing of Sheila “Denise” Tenpenny had been released, but Assistant Prosecutor Linda Scott revealed the boy, who was 13 at the time of slaying, had researched how to strangle people, how to “choose the perfect victim” and how to get away with it.
“For months, he did this sort of research,” Scott said. He also communicated with people online about what he had done.
“This one was a fighter,” the teen wrote in online communications after the killing, according to Scott.
She did not give additional details about the nature of the social media interactions, but the people he communicated with are still being investigated by Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, an agent said.
The BCI agent said the teen used ChatGPT and other search engines to do research including on how to defeat a police interrogation.
The teen admitted to charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and strangulation as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining charges and the “serious youth offender” indictment, which would have left the window open for a longer term in adult prison if the teen committed serious misconduct while in a youth prison.
The teen’s family cried as he told Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Kari Bloom that he was pleading to the charges. He came to court in grey shirt and black jacket and answered Bloom’s questions directly.
Ohio’s Department of Youth Services will hold the teen in a locked facility until his 21st birthday.
Tenpenny was found dead in her Germania Street home on Feb. 2 by her brother, police said. On a 911 call, the brother said he found her with a pillow over her head. The Hamilton County’s coroner reported she suffered head and neck injuries.
Scott said Tenpenny fought back during the attack, scratching the teen’s face and making him bleed. Tenpenny also was able to pull out some of his hair. This allowed investigators to collect DNA, which led them to the teen, Scott said.
The teen was arrested Feb. 12 and has been held at the Hamilton County Youth Center since then. Since his arrest, his lawyers have said he suffers from cerebral palsy and should be released to await trial at home. However, Judge Bloom kept him detained at the Hamilton County Youth Center.
Following the killing, the teen’s parents, who are divorced, filed a joint motion with the Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court on Feb. 7 to allow the teen and his twin brother to move to Long Beach, California. The parents’ attempt to do this was not addressed in court on Nov. 10.
Since he was under the age of 14 at the time of Tenpenny’s killing, the teen could not have been tried as an adult.
Five members of Tenpenny’s family and either spoke in court or had statements read in court during the hearing. Ohio BCI agent Richard Ward also spoke.
Ward said the case was “chilling” and that he’d never seen anyone so young spend so much time planning a killing. He said he is worried the teen could continue his behavior after he is released.
“He made missteps. He made mistakes,” Ward said. “In the future, is he going to learn from those mistakes?”
Tenpenny’s family described her as kind and peaceful.
In a statement, her niece told the teen that he chose Tenpenny because he thought she was alone and no one would care, but he was wrong. Her whole family loved her deeply.
“You took my aunt, my second mother. She was a constant in my life,” she said. “The fame you wanted doesn’t exist. The punishment doesn’t match the cruelty of your actions.”
While Tenpenny’s relatives spoke, the teen looked down at the table in front of him.
“I do feel sorry for you. Sorry you had a family that did not teach you right from wrong,” Tenpenny’s brother-in-law said. To the boy’s parents, he said: “Some day this offspring of yours will be out. He may be looking you up next. Good luck.”
Neither the teen’s family nor his attorney, Travis Dunnington, spoke about the teen’s motivation on Nov. 10. Dunnington said the focus of the hearing should be on Tenpenny’s family, and that he believes in the guiding principal of juvenile justice.
“Acts committed, especially at this young of an age, do not need to define who you will always be,” Dunnington said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘This one was a fighter,’ 13-year-old wrote after killing Ohio neighbor, prosecutor says
Reporting by Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
