SAMANTHA RITCHIE - 4 yo (1995) - Dayton OH

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:28 am

Marysville OH ---- A woman
who reported her 4-year old daughter missing when she had actually
killed the girl and hid her body will stay in jail for another ten years.
Therressa Jolynn Ritchie met with a member of the parole board at Ohio State
Women's Penitentiary in Marysville today. This was the first parole
hearing for Ritchie since her murder conviction in 1996.
Ritchie was sentenced to 22-years to life in prison for beating her child to death. She was
convicted of murder, gross abuse of a corpse, two counts of tampering
with evidence and two misdemeanors: making a false alarm and inducing panic.
The parole board received 1,594 signatures in opposition to Ritchie's parole, as well 26 letters
of protest, according to Jessica Dennis, spokeswoman for the Ohio
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Ritchie will not be eligible for parole again until 2020.

Here's one of the original stories...

NEWS
Prosecutor:Child Killed After Seeing Mom Have Sex

September 16, 1995

A 4-year-old girl discovered her mother and a neighbor having sex just
before the child was beaten to death and dumped in a water-filled pit in
July, prosecutors said Thursday. The scenario was disclosed at a
hearing in which the neighbor, Ernest Vernell Brooks, pleaded guilty to
charges of gross abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and
obstructing justice. Therressa Jolynn Ritchie has pleaded innocent to
murdering her daughter, Samantha. Ritchie, 24, reported her daughter
missing July 18 in an emergency call to police.