A judge has denied a new trial request made by a Lima man sitting on death row.
Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge David Cheney overruling Jeronique Cunningham's petition for a new trial. Cunningham was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated murder, both with the death penalty specification. Earlier that year, Cunningham and his half brother Cleveland Jackson shot eight people in an apartment on Eureka Street. Two children died of gunshot wounds.
In the petition, Cunningham claimed one of the jurors knew him and the victim's family and used the information to sway the others. The ruling states that the petition was filed too late and that there was not enough evidence to the juror misconduct claim. The case will go back to an appeals court. Jackson has run out of appeals. His execution is scheduled for next year.
