Man sentenced for killing two people in 2013

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UPDATE @ 12:51 p.m. (Oct. 24):

The judge has sentenced Harvey Lee Jones to life in prison without the possibility for parole for the murders of Demetrius Beckwith and Carly Hughley.

UPDATE @ 12:43 p.m. (Oct. 24):

Sentencing for Harvey Lee Jones was delayed this afternoon after the judge called for a recess after Harvey Lee Jones turned to family members of Carly Hughley and Demetrius Beckwith and maintained his innocense.

Several family members addressed the court during the appearance today.

The judge called for a recess to restore order to the courtroom.

FULL REPORT (Sept. 27)

A jury of eight women and four men decided that Harvey Lee Jones should not be put to death for the January 2013 aggravated murders of Carly Hughley and Demetrius Beckwith.

The Montgomery County Common Pleas jury on Tuesday recommended life sentences without the possibility of parole for Jones, 37, in the mitigation phase of his double homicide case. Jones’ sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Judge Steven Dankof’s courtroom.

Jones didn’t react outwardly when the bailiff read the jury’s decision, but later shared embraces and handshakes with his three defense attorneys.

“The state is very satisfied that justice was done,” Montgomery County assistant prosecutor Dan Brandt said of a case he said included two people shot in cold blood, execution style. “This defendant is going to be receiving two life without parole sentences, one for each of the deceased victims in this case.

“And he is also subject to additional decades in prison on top of that with the other charges that he’s been convicted of, but the court has not yet sentenced him on.”

Jones also was found guilty of kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and having weapons under disability. The Jan. 24, 2013, shooting of his ex-girlfriend Hughley, 32, and Beckwith, 29, happened in front of Hughley’s then 10-year-old son, who watched from a stairway in their Harrison Twp. apartment.

The jury received the case at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday and reached its decision before 3 p.m. The sequestered jury also could have recommended life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 or 30 years in weighing aggravating circumstances against the mitigating factors.

Duane Short was the last county common pleas defendant to be sentenced to death. He was found guilty in 2006 for the 2004 killings of his estranged wife, Rhonda Short, and her friend Donnie Sweeney.

The only other Montgomery County defendants since then to reach a full jury trial in a death penalty case were China Arnold and Anthony Stargell Jr.

Arnold was tried three times from 2008 to 2011 in the microwave death of her child, Paris Talley. Stargell was found guilty in 2014 of shooting and killing Dayton businessman Tommy Nickles and his dog. Arnold and Stargell both received life sentences without parole.

“It’s difficult for the prosecution in this day and age as it relates to the death penalty,” said Brandt, adding that the jury didn’t have information like Jones’ previous conviction for attempted rape and his 10-year prison sentence. “Views have changed over times, but we have an obligation and we took an oath of office to enforce the laws here in the state of Ohio.”

Jurors left before prosecutors could speak to them. Lead defense attorney Dennis Lieberman declined to comment after the decision.

“This is a very uncomfortable situation for us all, just to be here today,” Lieberman told the jury during the day’s closing arguments.“It’s uncomfortable because of the deaths of Demetrius Beckwith and Carly Hughley and the sadness surrounding that.”