HAMILTON COUNTY — A teenager accused of killing a 64-year-old woman inside her home earlier this year has pleaded guilty to multiple charges, according to our media partner WCPO-9 TV.
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Sheila “Denise” Tenpenny, 64, was found dead inside her home on Germania Street in Fairfax on Feb. 2.
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office said in a preliminary autopsy report that she had trauma to her head and neck.
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The teen, who was 13 at the time of Tenpenny’s death, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, and strangulation on Monday, WCPO-9 reported.
The boy will be in custody at the Department of Youth Services until he turns 21.
Prosecutors said the boy looked up how to strangle someone online and on social media in the months leading up to the victim’s death.
WCPO-9 reported that the boy broke into the woman’s home between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. and found her sleeping.
At that point, he hit her and strangled her until she died, prosecutors said.
Officials said that Tenpenny fought hard and scratched the boy’s face, which made him bleed on scene.
Investigators found the boy’s hair in Tenpenny’s hands, his DNA under her broken fingernails, and his blood throughout the house, WCPO-9 reported.
After leaving Tenpenny’s home, the boy reportedly got online and “notified his social media people.”
WCPO-9 reported that the prosecutors said the boy posted, “This one was a fighter.”
In court on Monday, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Agent David Ward said he’s worked on violent crimes for more than 20 years.
“I must say this is the first time I’ve ever had a person of this age commit this type of crime,” Ward said. “And to add to that, the premeditation of the offense is just chilling to me. As the investigation went on and continued, his social media communications with individuals ... there were several other communications that are very disturbing.”
The teen’s search history showed that he looked up how to “defeat” a police interrogation, Ward added.
“After the day we did our canvassing and swabbed the defendant, he indicated to whoever he was communicating on several social media outlets about ‘I think I just got caught,’” Ward said. “So it’s very disturbing. I understand the limitations to the law and the fact that he can only be incarcerated until he’s 21 — my fear is he made missteps in this case. He made mistakes. He left his DNA; he tried to clean up the crime scene with items that wouldn’t have been successful. It was good luck for us that he did make those mistakes, but in the future, is he going to learn from those mistakes? That’s what I’m concerned about.”
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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