what attorney was assigned to anthony sowell

Anthony Edward Sowell was born and raised in East Cleveland, Ohio, one of seven children born to single parent Claudia "Gertrude" Garrison. Seven other children belonging to Sowell's sister also lived in the household, having moved in after her death following a chronic illness. According to Sowell's niece, Leona Davis, Garrison subjected them to physical abuse while her own children watched from adjacent rooms. In one incident, Garrison forced Davis to strip naked in front of th…

On January 24, 1978, at the age of 18, Sowell entered the United States Marine Corps. He attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina, then was further trained as an electrician at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. On July 13, 1978, he was assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, also in North Carolina. In 1980, he spent a year overseas with the 3rd Force Service Support Group, then returned to Cherr…

In 1989, a woman who was three months pregnant attempted to leave Sowell's home. He bound her hands and feet with a tie and belt, then gagged her with a rag. She told police: "He choked me real hard because my body started tingling. I thought I was going to die." He was charged with kidnapping, rape and attempted rape. He pled guilty to attempted rape, and served 15 years in prison. He was released in 2005.

In September 2009, Sowell invited Latundra Billups to his home for a drink. On September 22, she told police that after a few drinks, he became angry and hit, choked, and raped her as she passed out. On October 29, police arrived at his home with an arrest warrant. He was not there, but he was located and arrested two days later.
The bodies of two women were buried in a shallow grave in the basement and four other wome…

Sowell was charged with 11 counts of aggravated murder and 74 counts of rape, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity but later changed his plea to simply "not guilty." On July 22, 2011, he was convicted on all but two counts, including the murders of the eleven women whose bodies were found in his house in 2009. On August 10, jurors recommended the death penalty. On August 12, Judge Dick Ambrose upheld th…

On November 5, 2009, two of the eleven victims were identified. All of Sowell’s victims were African-American women of an either slender or morbidly obese build (none in between), were all (except one) mothers and were in their early 30s or mid-to-late 40s, plus or minus 5 years.
Tonia Carmichael, a 53-year-old, had disappeared more than a year earlier. Her body was found buried in his backyard. She appeared to have been strangled and was identified through the use …

After Sowell's conviction, in December 2011, his former residence at 12205 Imperial Avenue was demolished on the order of city leaders. He was incarcerated at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. On January 21, 2021, he began receiving end-of-life care at the Franklin Medical Center in Columbus for a terminal illness. He died on February 8 at the Franklin Medical Center.
The case was profiled on the series premiere of the Investigation Discovery show Killer Instinct.