Teens Beat Couple To Death With Sledge Hammer
18-Year-Old and 14-Year-Old Are Charged With Aggravated Murder
Re-printed from a story at WJW-TV Channel 8 on April 4th 2013
A suburban Akron couple in their late 50's are killed as they slept by their daughter's boyfriend.
AKRON, Ohio — The man charged in connection with the killings of a New Franklin couple on Tuesday April 2nd appeared in Barberton Municipal Court Friday morning April 5th 2013. Ford was no stranger to his victims. In fact, he had dated their teenage daughter in the weeks preceeding their murders. That is before he attacked and hospitalized her in March and was currently fleeing from a Felonious Assault charge as a result.
A judge set a $2 million cash bond for Shawn Ford, 18, on charges of Aggravated Murder, Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Burglary and Grand Theft. New Franklin Police Department have arrested also 14-year-old juvenile for the murders whose identity had not yet been released.
Shawn Ford is accused of using a sledgehammer to kill Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert, whose bodies were found by construction workers Tuesday in the bedroom of their Rex Lake Drive home.
Ford also faces a charge of felonious assault for attacking Chelsea Schobert last month. Previously, Jamayne Ruiz was charged with the attack but those charges were dismissed Friday April 5th 2013.
Chelsea has been in the hospital since that attack. Akron police confirmed a guard has been placed outside Chelsea’s room.
Police say they do not have motive for Chelsea’s assault or for the murder of her parents.
Ford did not have an attorney present during Friday’s arraignment and did not enter a plea on the murder charges. The judge said the court would appoint him legal counsel for his next hearing on Wednesday, April 10th 2013.
Prosecutors said the murder case will eventually be sent to the grand jury, and it will be up to the grand jury to determine if Ford should be indicted on death penalty charges.
Ford at his court appearance at Barberton Municipal Court for murdering a couple as they slept in their own beds.
According to investigators, construction workers found the Schoberts dead in the bedroom of their Rex Lake Drive home in New Franklin Tuesday afternoon. Neighbors and friends described the couple as hard-working and loving.
"They were just very sharing people," said Denise Enright who lives next door to the Schoberts. "There was never any animosity, they would never raise their voices to their children. They were just wonderful people."
The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said the autopsy revealed the two died from blunt impacts to the head.
Police said Ford used a sledgehammer to kill the couple.
Here is a timeline of events, as recorded by the Medical Examiner:
* April 1st 2013: Jeff and Margaret Schobert spent the night at Akron Children's Hospital with their daughter, Chelsea.
* April 2nd 2013: They returned to their home early in the early morning.
* At 6:05 a.m on the 2nd, a text message was sent from Margaret's cellphone RE: boyfriend.
* At 8 a.m., construction crews arrived at the home.
* At 10:20 a.m., Margaret's cellphone "pings" location in Akron around Hill Street.
* At 2:15 p.m., a worker going to use the bathroom peers around the corner and discovers the bodies in the bedroom.
* At 5:09 p.m., the medical examiner arrives at the scene.
* Margaret is found on her back between the bed and dresser with lacerations on her face, right eye and forehead.
* Jeff is found lying on his back in the bed with a large laceration in the center of his forehead.
* A sledgehammer, presumably the murder weapon, is recovered on the bed to the right of Jeff Schobert.
"It was a horrific crime," said one of the investigators during the news conference. "We don’t ever know what’s going on inside someone’s head when something like this happens."
“It's going to be really sad to not have them live their life to the fullest that they did," said Enright. "It's never going to be the same."
UPDATE 03/11/2014
The youngest daughter of murder victims Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert, Chelsea Schobert has been indicted on one count each of Trafficking and Cocaine Possession. The drug was identified in sheriff’s records as crack in an amount exceeding 27 grams.
Authorities in Summit County announced that they have discovered new evidence in the murder case that could mean Chelsea Schobert becoming a suspect in her own parents murder.
Her original story was that she was attacked by a stranger and sent to the hospital during the attacks. However, this could have been part of a larger plan to continue seeing Shawn Ford by killing her with her parents who demanded that their daughter, who had a long history of emotional and behavioral problems, end the relationship.
References:
WJW-TV Channel 8, $2 Million Bond for New Franklin Murder Suspect
WEWS Channel 5, Shawn Ford Arrested In Connection With Murders
Re-printed from a story at WJW-TV Channel 8 on April 4th 2013
A suburban Akron couple in their late 50's are killed as they slept by their daughter's boyfriend.
AKRON, Ohio — The man charged in connection with the killings of a New Franklin couple on Tuesday April 2nd appeared in Barberton Municipal Court Friday morning April 5th 2013. Ford was no stranger to his victims. In fact, he had dated their teenage daughter in the weeks preceeding their murders. That is before he attacked and hospitalized her in March and was currently fleeing from a Felonious Assault charge as a result.
A judge set a $2 million cash bond for Shawn Ford, 18, on charges of Aggravated Murder, Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Burglary and Grand Theft. New Franklin Police Department have arrested also 14-year-old juvenile for the murders whose identity had not yet been released.
Shawn Ford is accused of using a sledgehammer to kill Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert, whose bodies were found by construction workers Tuesday in the bedroom of their Rex Lake Drive home.
Ford also faces a charge of felonious assault for attacking Chelsea Schobert last month. Previously, Jamayne Ruiz was charged with the attack but those charges were dismissed Friday April 5th 2013.
Chelsea has been in the hospital since that attack. Akron police confirmed a guard has been placed outside Chelsea’s room.
Police say they do not have motive for Chelsea’s assault or for the murder of her parents.
Ford did not have an attorney present during Friday’s arraignment and did not enter a plea on the murder charges. The judge said the court would appoint him legal counsel for his next hearing on Wednesday, April 10th 2013.
Prosecutors said the murder case will eventually be sent to the grand jury, and it will be up to the grand jury to determine if Ford should be indicted on death penalty charges.
Ford at his court appearance at Barberton Municipal Court for murdering a couple as they slept in their own beds.
According to investigators, construction workers found the Schoberts dead in the bedroom of their Rex Lake Drive home in New Franklin Tuesday afternoon. Neighbors and friends described the couple as hard-working and loving.
"They were just very sharing people," said Denise Enright who lives next door to the Schoberts. "There was never any animosity, they would never raise their voices to their children. They were just wonderful people."
The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office said the autopsy revealed the two died from blunt impacts to the head.
Police said Ford used a sledgehammer to kill the couple.
Here is a timeline of events, as recorded by the Medical Examiner:
* April 1st 2013: Jeff and Margaret Schobert spent the night at Akron Children's Hospital with their daughter, Chelsea.
* April 2nd 2013: They returned to their home early in the early morning.
* At 6:05 a.m on the 2nd, a text message was sent from Margaret's cellphone RE: boyfriend.
* At 8 a.m., construction crews arrived at the home.
* At 10:20 a.m., Margaret's cellphone "pings" location in Akron around Hill Street.
* At 2:15 p.m., a worker going to use the bathroom peers around the corner and discovers the bodies in the bedroom.
* At 5:09 p.m., the medical examiner arrives at the scene.
* Margaret is found on her back between the bed and dresser with lacerations on her face, right eye and forehead.
* Jeff is found lying on his back in the bed with a large laceration in the center of his forehead.
* A sledgehammer, presumably the murder weapon, is recovered on the bed to the right of Jeff Schobert.
"It was a horrific crime," said one of the investigators during the news conference. "We don’t ever know what’s going on inside someone’s head when something like this happens."
“It's going to be really sad to not have them live their life to the fullest that they did," said Enright. "It's never going to be the same."
UPDATE 03/11/2014
The youngest daughter of murder victims Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert, Chelsea Schobert has been indicted on one count each of Trafficking and Cocaine Possession. The drug was identified in sheriff’s records as crack in an amount exceeding 27 grams.
Authorities in Summit County announced that they have discovered new evidence in the murder case that could mean Chelsea Schobert becoming a suspect in her own parents murder.
Her original story was that she was attacked by a stranger and sent to the hospital during the attacks. However, this could have been part of a larger plan to continue seeing Shawn Ford by killing her with her parents who demanded that their daughter, who had a long history of emotional and behavioral problems, end the relationship.
References:
WJW-TV Channel 8, $2 Million Bond for New Franklin Murder Suspect
WEWS Channel 5, Shawn Ford Arrested In Connection With Murders
