RAVENNA − A Streetsboro man admitted trying to kill an elderly woman at his home by bludgeoning her with a meat tenderizer.
Richard Craig McNeal, 58, pleaded guilty June 8 to first-degree felony attempted murder, with a repeat violent offender specification, and third-degree felony having weapons under disability during a hearing in Portage County Common Pleas Court, according to a media release issued by the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.
Sentencing is pending a report from the court’s adult probation department. A jury trial had been scheduled to begin June 15.
Streetsboro police said EMS responded to McNeal’s Leslie Avenue home during the afternoon of April 20, 2025, after he called to report that the then-70-year-old woman, a family member, had fallen down some stairs.
Paramedics became suspicious, believing the woman had suffered more than just a fall down the stairs and called for police. Officers responded and the conscious woman was able to talk to them.
According to the news release, McNeal and the woman, who has cancer, had argued about their dog. McNeal became angry and while the woman sat in a chair in the living room, he approached her from behind and struck her twice in the back of the head with a metal meat tenderizer.
The victim ran for the front door, but McNeal struck her at least once more time. Once at the front door, McNeal opened the adjacent basement door and threw her down the basement steps, the release says.
The woman suffered several serious injuries, including lacerations to her head and ear, fractures to her spine, broken bones in her left hand, and a subdermal hematoma that was considered life threatening, the release says.
The weapon-under-disability charge includes a forfeiture specification for a 9mm pistol McNeal is not allowed to possess due to a 1997 felony assault conviction in Crawford County. McNeal received three years probation for that offense.
In a plea deal in Portage County, other charges in a grand jury indictment were dismissed.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro man admits attacking woman with meat tenderizer
Reporting by Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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By Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier | USA TODAY Network
