A 65-year-old man who fatally shot his daughter during an argument was described by his own children as manipulative, abusive, “a monster” and “a pathological-lying narcissist,” among other things.
“I hope nothing but the worst for him,” his youngest child, 19-year-old Madison Thompson, said in court on May 27. “There is no forgiveness. No love in my heart for him.”
“I hope you rot in hell,” she said as her father, Franklin Thompson, sat in the courtroom’s jury box, looking straight down.
Thompson had just pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and agreed to serve 14 to 19½ years in prison for shooting 24-year-old Heather Thompson multiple times. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Leah Dinkelacker imposed the sentence.
Thompson lived with 2 of his daughters
The shooting happened on Jan. 27, 2025, in the Sycamore Township house Franklin Thompson shared with Heather and Madison Thompson. It was the house they grew up in.
The two sisters were still trying to have a relationship with their father, even as his other children had moved out and tried to distance themselves from him.
One of his daughters, Rachel Webb, said she moved out as a teenager to live with her boyfriend’s family. She said she grew up without adequate food or clothes in Thompson’s home.
“We weren’t loved by him,” Webb said. The children were his “employees,” “cooks,” “cleaners” and “punching bags.”
‘None of us will claim you’
Thompson’s oldest daughter, Amber Clark, said Thompson saw his children as “ATMs” who would support him “while he claimed disability.”
“You deserve to die a slow and painful death,” Clark said.
If Thompson dies in prison, she said, “Know this: None of us will claim you.”
It was Madison Thompson who after coming home from work found her sister not breathing. She had been shot seven times, prosecutors said, including in the head.
Madison said she called for her father to help. But he had already left.
“I can only imagine the life we could have lived together, if he hadn’t taken her away,” she said.
“My sister was my best friend,” she said before starting to cry. “She was taken away from me by our own father.”
Franklin Thompson, who looked downward throughout the court proceeding, declined to make a statement. His attorney, James Moore, said Thompson hopes that his plea and sentence brings closure to his family and allows them to heal.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘Rot in hell.’ Children of man who killed his daughter speak out
Reporting by Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
