Antonio Franklin was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a triple murder
According to court documents Antonio Franklin would fatally shoot his Grandmother before beating to death his Uncle and Grandfather. Franklin would then set the house on fire and flee. Apparently Antonio was upset that he was told that he needed to find a place on his own
Antonio Franklin would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is Antonio Franklin Now
Antonio Franklin is incarcerated at Chillicothe Correctional Institution
Antonio Franklin Case
At 1:53 a.m. on April 18, 1997, the Dayton Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at 39 Riegel Street, where appellant lived with his grandmother, Ophelia Franklin, his grandfather, Ivory Franklin, Sr., and his uncle, Anthony Franklin. Upon entering the house, firefighters found three bodies. Ophelia Franklin was found lying on the floor with blood on her head. A bloody baseball bat lay next to her. The body of Ivory Franklin was found upstairs. When firefighters carried his body outside, their gear was covered with blood. Once the fire was under control, firefighters then observed the charred body of Anthony Franklin in the center room of the first floor.
{¶ 3} An autopsy revealed that Ophelia Franklin had sustained a gunshot wound to her forehead and a bullet track through her brain. Forensic pathologist Dr. David Smith observed at least eight blunt force injuries to her head, consistent with the use of a baseball bat. He concluded that either the gunshot wound or the blunt force injuries would have killed her.
{¶ 4} Dr. Smith further found that Ivory Franklin had been subjected to at least five hard blows to the back of the head, which fractured his skull. However, the examination suggested that the weapon used to cause these injuries was something other than a baseball bat. Anthony Franklin also sustained multiple fractures to his skull, which were consistent with the use of a baseball bat. Dr. Smith concluded that both Ivory Franklin and Anthony Franklin died of “blunt impact injuries of the head and inhalation of products of combustion.”
B. Arrest
{¶ 5} Later in the morning, appellant was involved in an automobile accident while driving Ivory Franklin’s car in Tennessee. Appellant abandoned the vehicle. Then, around 6:00 p.m., after receiving reports of a suspicious person in a Nashville, Tennessee neighborhood, two police officers found and questioned appellant. Appellant gave officers a false name and claimed to be a juvenile. He carried no identification, and his answers to questions were suspicious. An officer then asked appellant about the bulge in his jacket pouch. When appellant began to reach into that pouch, the officer told him to stop and tried to frisk him. However, appellant ran from the officers. Upon catching up to him, the officers searched appellant, found a loaded gun and jewelry, and arrested appellant for carrying a weapon and resisting a stop. The gun later was determined to be Ivory’s, and a firearms examiner concluded that it had fired the bullet recovered from Ophelia Franklin’s skull. Blood was found on the shoes, pants, and jacket that appellant was wearing when he was arrested.
{¶ 6} Two days later, when appellant was in police custody in a Tennessee jail, a Dayton police detective spoke with him. After receiving Miranda warnings, appellant signed a waiver and said to the detective, “You figured out I did it.” When asked why he committed the crimes, appellant replied, “They weren’t treating me right.” He said that he and his family “were always bumpin’ heads” and that they had threatened to kick him out of the house. He also said that he had killed his relatives because Anthony Franklin had raped him when appellant was fourteen years old.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/oh-supreme-court/1280874.html
