Akron man Dawud El Spaulding sentenced to death in fatal shootings
A 30-year-old Akron man has been sentenced to death for the fatal shootings of two people and a related shooting that left a man paralyzed.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Paul Gallagher imposed the death penalty Friday morning for Dawud El Spaulding in an hourlong court hearing.
Gallagher set the execution date for March 3, 2014, but under Ohio law such sentences carry automatic appeals.
Spaulding previously was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder, one count of felonious assault and other crimes in the December 2011 slayings of Ernest “Ernie” Thomas and Erica Singleton, the mother of Spaulding’s 7-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter.
Patrick Griffin was the first victim. He was shot hours earlier that same day at a Grant Street home. The 2 a.m. shooting left him paralyzed.
Some six hours later, after Spaulding fled, he returned to the home and fatally shot Singleton and Thomas just moments after they left the steps of Thomas’ front porch.
In court Friday, Spaulding, who was clad in red-striped jail clothes and guarded by nine sheriff’s deputies and courthouse security commanders, showed no emotion as he sat between his two attorneys at the defense table.
He made no statements or comments to the many family members and friends of the victims, who were seated in the public gallery.
“I just want to get this over with,” he told the judge.
When Gallagher asked him again if he wished to address the court, Spaulding shook his head back and forth, saying nothing.
Gallagher followed a previous recommendation by the jury in imposing the capital sentence.
http://www.ohio.com/news/akron-man-d...tings-1.373539
Bookmarks