Kirkland indicted for killing 3
By Kimball Perry • kperry@enquirer.com • March 17, 2009


Anthony Kirkland at his arraignment last week on charges he kidnapped and murdered 13-year-old Esme Kenney.

Anthony Kirkland should be executed for killing 13-year-old Esme Kenney earlier this month and two women in 2006, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said today after a grand jury indicted Kirkland on three aggravated murder charges.

Deters announced his office would seek the death penalty against Kirkland, 40. “He’s a serial killer. He deserves nothing less than execution,” Deters said during his late afternoon press conference.


Kirkland was charged with abducting Esme as she jogged March 7 near her Winton Hills home, sexually assaulting her and strangling her, perhaps with her own clothing. Kirkland then used those clothes, officials said, to try to burn Esme’s body.

Officials said Kirkland exhibited an animalistic anger when he so violently strangled the 5-foot, 4-inch, 100-pound girl that the capillaries in her cheeks and eyes burst.

While the charges involving Esme are the most recent and well-known, Kirkland also is charged with killing two other women, and like he allegedly did with Esme, burning their bodies to cover up evidence.

Those women are:

Casonya “Sharee” Crawford, 14, whose body was found May 11, 2006, in Avondale in a pile of burned tires. One tire was around her neck.


Mary Jo Newton, 45, a mother of two, whose body was found June 15, 2006. Newton’s body was so badly burned that dental records were required to identify her.

The deaths aren’t the first time Kirkland has been accused of killing someone.

He was convicted in 1987 – at age 18 – of choking and beating Leola Douglas, 28, after an argument, then dousing her body with lighter fluid, setting her on fire and killing her. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served 16 years in prison.

In the most recent case, Esme disappeared as she went for a routine jog near her home. About 30 minutes after Kenney was due home, her parents contacted police and began searching the area.

Seven hours later, police found what appeared to be a homeless man asleep against a tree in some nearby woods. He told them his name was Anthony Palemore and gave them a fake date of birth and Social Security number.

Police became suspicious when they saw the tips of two knives sticking out of the man’s pockets. They handcuffed him and then learned his real name – Anthony Kirkland – and his deadly criminal history.

Also on Kirkland at the time were a purple watch and white iPod, items Esme’s parents later identified as belonging to their daughter.

Police took him in for questioning. In the middle of that interview, police found the naked and partially burned body of the teen in the woods near where Kirkland was found.

Esme wasn’t raped, Hamilton County Coroner O’Dell Owens said, but her body showed signs of sexual assault.

When police at the scene heard Kirkland’s name, it didn’t surprise them. He was a suspect in both of the 2006 killings, but not charged – until today.

Police questioned Kirkland about the slayings of Crawford and Newton but released him because they did not have enough evidence. Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher said, referring to Kirkland as a "one-in-a-million nightmare.”

“He was a cunning guy. He’s smart and knew how to go about his business,” said Streicher. “He covered his tracks through murder and the destruction of evidence.”

Prosecutors were concerned about the case last week when they learned the Kenney family opposed capital punishment.

When they called the family last week to tell them they likely would seek the death penalty for Kirkland, the teen’s father informed prosecutors they didn’t believe in execution. The teen’s mother was heard shouting her opposition to capital punishment in the background of the same call.

The Kenney family met with prosecutors today and decided not to oppose Deters’ attempt to have Kirkland executed.

“I met with them this morning,” Deters said. “It’s a beautiful family who lost a beautiful girl.”

Esme’s cousin, Brad Kenney, said family members have mixed feelings about the death penalty, but all agree prosecutors need to do whatever is necessary to keep Kirkland off the streets.

“We’re a big family, with a lot of strong-minded people, so we’re not of one mind as far as the death penalty is concerned,” Kenney said. “One thing we’re unanimous on is that Anthony Kirkland and other predators like him never rejoin free society.”

Kenney said he and Esme’s other relatives remain concerned about a justice system that allowed Kirkland to go free, beginning with the Ohio Parole Board’s decision in 2003 to release Kirkland after he had served 16 years for voluntary manslaughter.

“How this monster got paroled is beyond our ability to comprehend, and shows yet another point of breakdown for the criminal justice system,” Kenney said.

The Volunteers of America, an agency that runs a local halfway house for sex offenders, kicked Kirkland out of its program – and his home – for fighting late Feb. 27, a Friday night. It didn’t contact Kirkland’s parole officer until Monday to alert the department he was free.

Kirkland, police said, then went on a crime spree that culminated with Kenney’s death.

“Don’t you think we would have (arrested him) if we would have known or if we were able to?” Streicher asked.

The majority of Cincinnati’s City Council called for the VOA program to be closed. A majority last week called on Gov. Ted Strickland to close the center.

On Friday, the state issued an order that parolees are not to be evicted until parole workers are notified.

Other changes could be coming.

The VOA program is one of 23 halfway houses the state uses and is one of three in Ohio that treat sex offenders.

Today, Councilmember Cecil Thomas – who last week did not sign the letter urging the state to close the center – spoke out. “Cincinnati is a dumping ground,” he said. He also said the center, on West McMicken Avenue, is a concern, considering the number of playgrounds near a home for sex offenders.

“I would hope there is a possibility that it could move to a better location,” Thomas said. “But the greater issue is, are there other Anthony Kirklands out there?” Thomas asked.

Chris Lohrman, president of the center, said he is willing to move but wouldn’t talk specifically about the issue.

A team of workers from the state is expected to arrive in Cincinnati, possibly Thursday, to review the case.

Kirkland also has spent time behind bars for putting a skewer to the throat of his 18-month-old son and for soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl. He was acquitted in another case of rape.

Of Ohio’s 176 death row inmates, 35 were convicted in Hamilton County.

Kirkland's case will be presided over by Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kubicki Jr.

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