Judge Joseph Kirby accepted the recommendation of a jury from a trial earlier this month and sentenced Terry Froman, 43, of Metropolis, Ill., to death, plus 17 years, for the murder and kidnapping of Kimberly Thomas, 34, of Mayfield, Ky.
“From Mayfield, Kentucky to Warren County, Ohio, the defendant beat and bludgeoned her, which resulted in a probable concussion, as well as injuries to the back of her head, bruises, multiple abrasions, a missing tooth, a broken jaw, and defensive wounds from her attempts to fight the Defendant off,” County Prosecutor David Fornshell said in a sentencing memorandum filed before Thursday’s hearing.
RELATED: I-75 shooter Terry Froman found guilty
“He also terrorized her by keeping her trapped in the back of his Yukon, by beating her and by dragging her back to the Yukon by her hair when she tried to escape,” Fornshell added.
Froman’s lawyers declined to file a memorandum, as directed by Kirby, citing his denial of their motion for trial transcripts.
Instead, lawyer Perry Ancona read a statement arguing that Froman should not be sentenced to death, citing factors including his abusive upbringing and mental health problems.
“The death penalty is not appropriate,” Ancona concluded.
Froman still faces murder charges stemming from the shooting death of Thomas’ son, 17-year-old Eli Mohney, early that day in Graves County, Ky.
Froman is also expected to face the death penalty in that case, although Kentucky has a moratorium on the death penalty.
RELATED: Victim told Terry Froman to move out day before I-75 shooting .
“He was intent on making sure Kimberly Thomas loses everything,” Kirby said during a statement leading up to the death sentence.
It was an adult criminal case for Kirby, the juvenile and probate court judge in Warren County.
Froman was arrested on Sept. 12, 2014, on I-75 after he was stopped by state troopers. Thomas was dead from multiple gunshot wounds, and Froman had shot himself in the shoulder in an apparent suicide attempt.
Froman turns 44 on July 9. The killings came a day after Thomas told him to move out of a home they were sharing in Kentucky.
RELATED: Jury recommends death penalty
On Thursday, Froman made no statement, but he asked Kirby to sentence him to life in prison during the mitigation phase of the trial.
“I want to live,” Froman said, while reading and choking back a few tears. He offered an apology to the Thomas family and told them he loved her and Mohney.
“I just wanted to be with her,” Froman said earlier this month.
After Thursday’s sentencing, Thomas’s father expressed his family’s grief, while forgiving Froman in a statement to the court.
“You took from me two fantastic people,” Terry Thomas said, encouraging Froman to accept God and seek his forgiveness while in prison.
“If you don’t make the right choice, son, you will burn in Hell,” Thomas said. “I don’t want you to burn.”
About the Author
