Quaker City man sentenced to life in prison for March murder

Lina Portman2 days ago

0 2 minutes read

Prosecutor not afraid to take violent offenders to task

Steph West
| Special to the Daily Jeffersonian

CAMBRIDGE − Dalton John Leach, 33, was sentenced Monday to life in prison by Guernsey County Magistrate Court Judge Daniel G. Padden for the March 15 murder of Maureen Ramey, 55. The killing took place at a residence they shared on Anderson Road in Quaker City, according to a news release from the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office and court records.

Leach pleaded guilty to murder and motor vehicle theft, a fourth-degree felony, on June 24. He will be eligible for parole after serving 16 1/2 years in prison. He is serving a consecutive sentence of 15 years for murder and a maximum of 18 months for robbery.

Leach will also be required to register as a violent offender.

Guernsey County Prosecutor Lindsey Angler welcomes the consecutive sentence but is shocked by what she sees as an unfair loop in the law when it comes to sentencing for murder and the time frame in which the offender can be considered for release.

“I am continually disappointed in the state legislature that the sentence for murder is 15 years to life,” Angler said. “I personally don’t believe that murder is eligible for parole after only 15 years, but there’s nothing we can do about it the way the law is written.”

She said local judges know their communities best and should have more latitude in handing down sentences for murder.

“It’s frustrating,” Angler said. “I feel especially bad for everyone in the victim's family when they are faced with this conversation: 'Your loved one's life is only worth 15 years.' This is so wrong.”

On March 15, shortly before 11 a.m., Guernsey County deputies and a family member found Ramey deceased inside her home, according to the sheriff's statement. Detectives from the sheriff's office and crime scene officers from the Ohio Attorney General's BCI Section were called to the scene.

An autopsy performed at the Licking County medical examiner's office determined that Ramey died from a single gunshot wound to the back. Leach, Ramey's boyfriend, was identified as a suspect and was arrested later that day at an Indianapolis-area casino in Shelbyville, Indiana, according to the release.

After his sentencing, Leach was remanded in custody at the Guernsey County Sheriff's Office and taken back to the county jail. Angler said he will be transported to the Orient Correctional Facility for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to conduct a security risk assessment and classify him before sending him to the appropriate prison.

She said the process would take about a month.

Angler said violent crime in Guernsey County is not uncommon.

“We have several murder cases going on right now,” she said. “Unfortunately, in Guernsey County we are not immune to big city problems or big city crime. »

She said Guernsey County's only asset is that the DA's office does not back down from a trial.

“We’re not afraid to hold a trial and work to secure convictions,” she said, noting that from 2000 to 2020, there were only 30 jury trials in Guernsey County. Under her leadership, Angler has already completed 21 trials in three years.

“Lawyers come in and think I’m going to back down or take a last-minute plea deal — I’m not going to,” Angler said. “Our office is not afraid to go to trial in any way. And that’s the best thing we can do to protect our community, showing defendants that we’re going to do the job and they’re not going to get a pass.”

Prosecutor not afraid to take violent offenders to task

Lina Portman

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