A Hocking College student accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend multiple times was indicted on one charge of aggravated murder by a grand jury yesterday.
Ronald Hendrickson II, 21, of Dayton, could face a sentence of 20 years to life in prison if convicted of his alleged involvement in the stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Blankenship, on April 12.
At a news conference yesterday, Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren clarified that the charge of aggravated murder differed from the previous charge of murder on the grounds that the crime was premeditated in some way.
Warren described the idea of premeditation as a plan that ends in the intentional death of another individual. He also stressed that even a hasty plan can be considered premeditation.
There's no particular length of time
he said. It can be five minutes 10 minutes or 15 minutes. You just have to have time to make a plan.
Warren refused to comment on what specific evidence persuaded the grand jury as to the existence of premeditation.
It'll all come out in trial he said. We'll try it there.
The case cannot carry a death sentence because it does not meet certain requirements, such has having a connection with another felony or involving the killing of multiple people, Warren said.
Hendrickson, whose arraignment is set for April 23, is being held in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail on a $500,000 bond. Warren, who proposed a bond of $2 million, said that while he anticipates Hendrickson's lawyers will try to negotiate a lower bond, he is against it.
I believe he's a flight risk and a danger to society
he said.
The police found Blankenship, 21, of Burton, dead when they arrived at her rented house on Fort Street in Nelsonville. They also found Hendrickson, who has said the attack was in self-defense, with a stab wound in the abdomen.
The estranged couple, who Nelsonville police say had a history of domestic violence, had been sharing the house with four other people.
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