Two individuals were sentenced by a Lucas County judge on Tuesday for their involvement in the murders of two teenage boys whose bodies were discovered in the basement of a burned-out residence in North Toledo in 2022.
Carissa Eames, who is 24 years old, has been given a prison sentence of 12 to 15 years by Judge Lori Olender. Eames was found guilty of two counts of complicity in felonious assault and two counts of complicity in the commission of kidnapping. Similarly, Corbin Gingrich, who is 27 years old, has been sentenced to 20 to 25 years for two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of kidnapping. These are the sentences that have been handed down by the judge.
Ke’Marion Wilder, 16, and Kyshawn Pittman, 15, were tragically murdered, and now the latest of many involved parties have been sentenced to prison for their actions leading up to the crime.
In the evening of December 3, 2022, the Wilder and Pittman adolescents were asked to leave a gathering at Maumee Bay State Park and decided to take an Uber to the residence of Eames and Gingrich located on Maumee Avenue’s 500 block.
According to the coroner’s report, the boys had already passed away before the house was intentionally set ablaze.
Judge Olender dealt a harsh sentence in early June, imposing consecutive life sentences on Walker and Kohlhofer for the horrific murder of two innocent boys.
During Eames’ sentencing, Kenyatta Reynolds, the mother of young Pittman, delivered a victim impact statement on Tuesday morning.
Wearing a red jersey with her son’s name and a picture of him on the sleeve, Ms. Reynolds recounted how she had approached Eames in the days following her son’s disappearance seeking information about him. However, Eames repeatedly lied to her, as she claimed.
Ms. Reynolds visited Miss Eames a few times as a concerned mother, asking if she had seen her son, a young boy with dreadlocks. However, Miss Eames denied ever seeing him and claimed that he had never been to her place.
Tears overcame Ms. Reynolds as she delivered her statement, causing her to pause frequently.
“I believe that everyone involved in this should receive the maximum sentence for their actions,” she declared firmly. “They were all fully aware of what they were doing.”
After Ms. Reynold’s victim statement, Eames also expressed her emotions during her statement.
With tears streaming down his face, Eames took full responsibility for his actions and expressed his initial plan of asking for full release. As a parent himself, he empathized with the pain of being away from one’s children and acknowledged the irreparable damage caused to two families who will never see their loved ones again.
During the hearing, Eames’ defense attorney, James Popil, highlighted her troubled childhood, lack of prior criminal offenses, and expressed remorse for her actions. He urged Judge Olender to consider a non-prison sentence or the minimum prison sentence. Additionally, Popil requested the merging of the charges of felonious assault and kidnapping.
Judge Olender did not hold back while delivering the sentence to Eames. He highlighted Eames’ actions of tampering with evidence on the gun used to beat the boys and lying to both the families of the boys and law enforcement after the boys went missing.
Judge Olender admonished the defendant, stating that while the parents of the children involved would never see their offspring again, the defendant would have that privilege. The judge expressed disappointment in the defendant’s dishonesty towards the parents.
In the case, the request to combine the assault and kidnapping charges was denied by Judge Olender. She stated that she had carefully considered all the testimony presented and was unable to find any grounds for merging the charges.
Judge Olender has ordered that Eames serve his complicity in felonious assault charges consecutively, one for each victim, and his complicity in commission of kidnapping charges concurrently during his sentencing. Eames will be facing a prison sentence of a minimum of 12 years and a maximum of 15 years, along with post-release control for 18 months to two years.
The merging of charges became a more contentious issue during Gingrich’s sentencing hearing.
David Klucas, the defense attorney for Gingrich, contended that merging the charges of kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter was necessary as the latter could not have been committed without the former, and both offenses occurred in identical legal and factual circumstances.
During the proceedings, Judge Olender had a conversation with Mr. Klucas and the prosecutor regarding the issue, which was off-the-record. However, Mr. Klucas later objected to this because the state had previously agreed to remain silent on the merger issue.
Judge Olender acknowledged Mr. Klucas’ compelling argument, stating, “I do think you have a compelling argument.” However, the judge remained steadfast in their belief, explaining that they needed to remain consistent with their interpretation of case law: “I might be wrong, but I need to be consistent. I still believe what I believe, based on case law.”
Judge Olender sentenced Gingrich to serve a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 25 years in prison. He rejected the merger argument and ordered Gingrich to serve his two involuntary manslaughter charges consecutively while his kidnapping charges are to be served concurrently.
Gingrich addressed the families of the victims during his hearing, where he read out a statement.
As he spoke, his voice trembled with emotion. “I can’t express enough how much regret I feel,” he said. “I failed your children that night and it’s something that weighs heavily on my mind every single day.”