Murderer to remain in prison

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — The 11th District Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of Jermaine McKinney in the murder of Wanda Rollyson and her daughter, Rebecca Cliburn, in Rollyson’s Newton Township home in December 2005.

The court rejected all of the dozens of arguments put forth by Atty. Michael A. Partlow of Cleveland, representing McKinney, 29, formerly of Youngstown.

McKinney was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder and other charges in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in 2006 during a trial that could have landed him on death row.

He was sentenced to two life terms in prison without parole eligibility.

Partlow argued that jurors should not have heard about his arrest in Youngstown 11 days after the murders, that prosecutors should not have been allowed to dismiss a black juror, that photographs of the charred remains of the victims should not have been shown at trial, that the court should have allowed the trial to be moved to another location, and that McKinney’s attorneys were ineffective in defending him.

McKinney is housed in Mansfield Correctional Institution.