Charles Maxwell was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for the murder of Nichole McCorkle
According to court documents Charles Maxwell and Nichole McCorkle relationship ended when he was arrested for domestic violence. When Nichole McCorkle would testify against him at court Maxwell would track her down and fatally shoot her
Charles Maxwell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Charles Maxwell Now
Number
A523572
DOB
09/12/1966
Gender
Male
Race
Black
Admission Date
03/29/2007
Institution
Chillicothe Correctional Institution
Status
INCARCERATED
Charles Maxwell Case
Evidence introduced at trial showed that McCorkle and Maxwell had a long-term relationship that began in 1999, living together on different occasions over the next few years. They had one child, C.M., nearly four years old. Nichole also had two other children, D.C. and D.K. In August 2005, she purchased a single-family home at 1046 East 146th Street in Cleveland and lived there with her father and two of the children. Maxwell had a key to the side door of the house and kept some clothes there.
The underlying assault
{¶ 3} The prosecution introduced evidence showing that on October 6, 2005, Nichole went to the hospital and received stitches for head injuries after Maxwell struck her. Police came to the hospital and took Nichole’s report about the incident. On the same date, Maxwell told John Gregg, a friend and coworker, that he had pistol-whipped Nichole. On October 13, 2005, she obtained a temporary protection order against Maxwell.
{¶ 4} Afterward, prosecutors presented felonious-assault charges against Maxwell to the grand jury. Nichole was subpoenaed to testify before it on November 23, 2005.
{¶ 5} Maxwell told Gregg that he was concerned about receiving prison time for felonious assault. Maxwell knew about the temporary protection order and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He had also learned that Nichole was going to testify against him at the grand jury.
{¶ 6} At Maxwell’s behest, Gregg contacted Nichole about her grand jury testimony in an effort to reduce the charges from felonious assault to a lesser offense. Gregg asked Nichole to “stick to the story that it was a simple domestic; she pushed him, he pushed her, she slipped and hit her head on the stove.”
A. Nichole’s grand jury testimony
{¶ 7} Following Nichole’s testimony on November 23, 2005, the grand jury indicted Maxwell for felonious assault, abduction, and domestic violence. Brian Mooney, an assistant prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, informed Nichole that day that the grand jury had voted to indict and what the charges were. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the indictment was not signed by the grand jury foreman and filed with the clerk of court until November 28, 2005.
{¶ 8} The evening of the grand jury’s decision, Maxwell called Gregg and said that he had been trying to talk to Nichole about her grand jury testimony but had been unable to contact her. Maxwell then called Nichole while Gregg remained on the line and heard their conversation. Maxwell asked Nichole what happened in court that day. Nichole told him, “I told the truth. I had to tell the truth.” According to Gregg, Maxwell was very upset after the phone call and said that “the bitch was going to make him kill her.” Maxwell also asked Gregg where he could get a gun.
B. The Events of November 26 and 27, 2005
{¶ 9} The prosecution presented evidence that on the evening of November 26, 2005, Nichole and Willie Hutchinson met at a bar. Lauretta Kenney, Nichole’s sister, had introduced Hutchinson to Nichole after the October 6 incident. Nichole and Hutchinson arrived at the bar in separate cars and had a few drinks. When they departed, although Nichole told Hutchinson that she would call him when she got home, she did not. But Hutchinson called Nichole, and a man answered the phone. Hutchinson then called Lauretta and told her to check on Nichole.
{¶ 10} Near 2:30 a.m. on November 27, Lauretta called Nichole, and Maxwell answered the phone. Maxwell immediately gave the phone to Nichole. Lauretta asked Nichole why Maxwell was there and told her that he needed to leave. According to Lauretta, Nichole said that “she was confused and she didn’t know what was going on.”
{¶ 11} Lauretta then drove to Nichole’s home and arrived around 2:40 a.m. but did not see Maxwell’s car on the street or in the driveway. Lauretta called Nichole, saying she was outside. Nichole “mumbled something” and then hung up. Lauretta went onto the porch, and Nichole and Maxwell were standing next to each other when Lauretta opened the screen door.
{¶ 12} Lauretta told Maxwell that he was not supposed to be there and needed to leave. Maxwell said that he was just talking to Nichole. Lauretta testified, “I told him, there’s no talking, that you needed to leave.” He then called Lauretta “a bitch” and said, “[I]f anybody’s leaving it’s going to be you.” Maxwell then stepped back and pulled a gun from his pants. Nichole screamed, “[O]h my God, Lauretta, he got a gun, run.” Lauretta then jumped off the porch and started running. Lauretta heard two gunshots as she ran across the street and heard a third gunshot after she crossed the street. Lauretta then saw Maxwell kneeling down by Nichole.
{¶ 13} C.M., a day short of four years old, was standing near Maxwell and Nichole when Lauretta came to the door. Later, when asked what she had seen, C.M. testified, “He shoot my mommy.”
{¶ 14} Maxwell ran from the house after shooting Nichole and fled down the street. Lauretta followed him for a short distance before he disappeared. Shortly afterwards, police officers and emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene. Nichole was taken to the hospital, where she died from her injuries.
{¶ 15} On the morning of November 27, Michelle Kenney, Nichole’s other sister, called Gregg and told him that Maxwell had killed Nichole. Gregg said that he then called Maxwell and asked him if he had killed Nichole. Maxwell admitted killing her and recounted what happened. He said he had followed Nichole from her home to the bar. She went into the bar, and Maxwell waited outside in his car. He then went inside and saw Nichole and another man sitting in the back of the bar “making out.” Maxwell then returned to his car and waited. After they left the bar, he followed Nichole and the man as they drove in separate cars to Nichole’s house. Nichole kissed the man, went into her house, and the man drove away.
{¶ 16} Gregg also testified that Maxwell told him that he called Nichole after the other man drove away and asked if he could come over. Nichole said he could, and Maxwell went to her house. Maxwell answered the phone at Nichole’s house, including repeated calls from a man who asked to speak to Nichole. He also answered a call from Lauretta. Maxwell told Gregg that “they started arguing and then he confronted her about that night.” Lauretta then came to the front door, and Maxwell “opened the door[,] pointed the gun and fired but she had ran.” Then, Maxwell told Gregg, “he just turned around, shot Nichole and she fell down and * * * she moved and then he shot her again.”
C. The Police Investigation
{¶ 17} Police investigators found two .25 caliber shell casings inside the house. Investigators looked inside and outside the house for a third shell casing, which they never found. Investigators also did not find any bullet holes inside or outside the house.
{¶ 18} Dr. David Dolinak, a medical examiner with the Cuyahoga County coroner’s office, conducted Nichole’s autopsy. Nichole suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. One gunshot in the middle of the right eyebrow broke the bones of the eye socket. The bullet did not enter the brain but lodged in the sinuses on the right side of the nose. The other gunshot went through the left side of the head into the right side of the brain. Dr. Dolinak concluded that Nichole died from gunshot wounds of the head and that the death was a homicide.
{¶ 19} Detective James Ealey, a firearms examiner with the Cleveland Police Department, examined the two bullets recovered during the autopsy. Ealey testified that they had been fired from the same weapon. His written report stated that the bullets were “consistent with 25 auto type ammunition.”
{¶ 20} The police sought to locate and arrest Maxwell following Nichole’s death. On December 16, 2005, FBI Special Agent Robert Riddlebarger and other members of the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Fugitive/Gang Task Force went to a Cleveland home to arrest him. After entering the home, they found Maxwell hiding in a crawl space behind a bed in a second-floor bedroom. As he was being handcuffed, Maxwell was asked whether he was armed or whether there were any weapons nearby. He replied, “I do not have a gun anymore.” A few seconds later, Maxwell blurted out that he had gotten rid of the gun that he had.
{¶ 21} The defense presented no witnesses during the guilt phase of the trial.
II. Case history
{¶ 22} Maxwell was indicted on two counts of aggravated murder. Count One charged him with the aggravated murder of Nichole with prior calculation and design. Count Two charged him with the aggravated murder of Nichole while committing kidnapping and/or aggravated burglary. Both counts contained death-penalty specifications for a course of conduct involving multiple murders or attempted murders, R.C. 2929.04(A)(5), murder while committing kidnapping or aggravated burglary, R.C. 2929.04(A)(7), murder in retaliation for testimony in a criminal proceeding, R.C. 2929.04(A)(8), and murder to escape accounting for a crime, R.C. 2929.04(A)(3).
{¶ 23} Maxwell was also charged with six additional counts: Count Three—kidnapping, Counts Four and Five—aggravated burglary, Count Six—the attempted murder of Lauretta Kenney, Count Seven—retaliation against Nichole because she filed criminal charges against him, and Count Eight—having a weapon while under disability. Counts One through Seven each contained a firearm specification.
{¶ 24} Maxwell pled not guilty to all charges and specifications. The matter proceeded to a jury trial on the first seven counts, while Maxwell waived a jury trial on Count Eight. At the close of the state’s case, defense counsel filed a Crim.R. 29 motion to dismiss the charges. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss Counts Two through Five and the felony-murder death-penalty specification but denied the motion to dismiss the other charges. The jury found Maxwell guilty of Counts One and Seven, the retaliation and murder-to-escape-accounting specifications, and two firearm specifications. He was found not guilty of Count Six and the course-of-conduct specification. Separately, the trial court found Maxwell guilty of having a weapon while under a disability.
{¶ 25} Prior to sentencing, the R.C. 2929.04(A)(3) specification was merged into the R.C. 2929.04(A)(8) specification. Following the presentation of evidence in the penalty phase of the trial, the jury recommended that Maxwell be sentenced to death. The trial court accepted the jury’s recommendation, and Maxwell was sentenced to death on Count One. He was also sentenced to five years in prison for the independent count of retaliation, three years on the firearm specification, and five years for having a weapon under a disability.
