Crime & Safety
Appeal Denied for Akron Man in Prison for Kent State Student's Murder
An attorney for Ronald Kelly, a former University of Akron student, claimed his client was denied a fair trial.
COLUMBUS — The Akron man convicted of murder and felonious assault for beating a Kent State University student to death will not have an appeal.
The Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear Ronald Kelly's appeal last week.
Kelly's attorney claimed that his client was denied a fair trial and a “meaningful direct appeal” based on ineffective assistance of counsel in his Portage County murder trial and subsequent appellate case, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
On Nov. 14, 2009, Adrian Barker, a University of Akron student, and his two friends, Ronald Kelly, 23, and Glenn Jefferson, were leaving a frat party at Kent State University when they nearly ran over Christopher Kernich and his two friends walking by, according to our partners at NewsNet5.com.
They all traded words with each other and ended up getting into a physical fight. Prosecutors argued that Barker came running at Kernich, blindsiding him with a blow to his head in the middle of the street. Kernich collapsed to the ground unconscious, cracking his head on the pavement. Kelly continued to kick and stomp him.
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The former University of Akron student testified in 2010 in his own defense and denied he ever kicked or stomped Kernich.
Kernich, 23, died of massive head injuries six days after the attack in 2009.Find out what's happening in Kentwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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