Magistrate Fired After Denying Protection Order To Woman Who Was Allegedly Killed Week Later By Estranged Husband
MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A county magistrate in Ohio has been fired after she denied a protection order for a woman who was killed less than a week later.
Sharon May, a Richland County domestic relations court magistrate, was fired on Friday, the Mansfield News Journal reported.
Gaberien Clevenger, 22, filed for a protection order against her estranged husband, Alec Blair, on Jan. 22. She was stabbed to death on Feb. 10, five days after May denied the order.
On Feb. 11, Blair led authorities to a wooded area in Mansfield where Clevenger's body was found. He was charged with murder in her death.
Blair reportedly told police he knocked Clevenger unconscious, dumped her out of a car and smothered her. He acknowledged stabbing her during a second interview, police said.
A message seeking comment was left for Blair's attorney. He remains in county jail on $1 million bond.
Richard County domestic relations Judge Heather Cockley, who signed May's termination record, said she reviewed the case and found there was "no error of law" in the magistrate's decision.
"This case involves a beautiful young woman whose life was taken," Cockley wrote in her decision. "The magistrate who heard this case (May) has cried many tears for the victim and her family."
A message seeking comment was left for May on Monday.
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