McKinney spared the death penalty

WARREN — A Trumbull County jury told Judge W. Wyatt McKay on Monday night that Jermaine McKinney should spend the rest of his life in prison for killing two women in Newton Township.

Defense attorneys Larry Smith and Pat Millhoff reached across McKinney to shake hands when the two verdicts were read, but McKinney told the two, “I don’t want to do life."

Minutes later, McKinney was led out of the courtroom and said, “Life ain’t no better than death.”

The verdict was the culmination of five weeks of jury selection and testimony. The jury found McKinney guilty Nov. 3 of killing Wanda Rollyson, 70, and her daughter, Rebecca Cliburn, 45, in Rollyson’s Newton Township home after a robbery.

Jurors, who deliberated for about six hours, filed out the courtroom quietly after Judge McKay released them, none agreeing to talk about their decision.

Melissa Barry of Cortland, the daughter of Cliburn and grandaughter of Rollyson who called police to her grandmother’s house Dec. 22 after finding her grandmother’s car in the garage and no answer at the door, said she is “just happy that it’s over.”

Asked whether the life in prison sentence seemed appropriate, she said, “It was not up to me, so I’m happy.”

For a video of McKinney's unsworn statement to the jury before sentencing, click here.