Trumbull Co. Prosecutor's Office files appeal in ruling that death row inmate is intellectually disabled
The Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office has filed a notice of appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court challenging the Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals decision that remanded death row inmate Andre "Kokomo" Williams' claims of intellectual disability back to local court.
According to the release, the appeal assigned three errors to the 11th District Court's decision. The errors include challenging its jurisdiction to hear the case, that it violated the constitutionality of the victim's rights as given by Marsy's Law, and that the appellate court abused its discretion.
The Office's appeal asks the Ohio Supreme Court to rule on those three assignments of error.
Williams was convicted in 1989 for the murder of George Melnick and severe beating and permanent injuring of his wife Kathryn in their Warren home. He was also convicted of the attempted rape of Kathryn, which occurred during the deadly robbery of their Wick Street home.
In 2023, Williams' attorney argued that his IQ scores show that Williams qualifies as intellectually disabled, citing tests that were taken while Williams was in school before the crimes took place and prison records.
Local Judge W. Wyatt McKay ruled in late 2022 that Williams was not intellectually disabled.
The 11th District judges partly approved the aforementioned appeal in December 2023, with Judge Mary Jane Trapp commenting that "we find that the trial court abused its discretion in determining Mr. Williams did not prove intellectual function deficits."
Both the 11th District Court of Appeals in 1994 and the Ohio Supreme Court in 1996 upheld Williams' convictions and death sentence.