Man gets 15 to life for Thanksgiving 2013 murder

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Leo Kellish could not stop shaking and tried to hold back tears Thursday as an assistant prosecutor described to a judge some of the injuries he inflicted on a man he pleaded guilty to killing.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond told Common Pleas Judge Lou D’Apolito about the severe beating endured by 70-year-old Dennis Simmons early Thanksgiving morning 2013 inside his Shirley Road home. Simmons’ niece, Jennifer Freeman, said the brutal way her uncle died will stick with her for years to come.

“The horror of the last moments of his life is something that haunts our family,” Freeman said. “Thanksgiving will always be a memory of a horrible thing that happened.”

Kellish, 34, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by Judge D’Apolito for the Nov. 28 death of Simmons, who was found beaten to death about 3:20 a.m. in the driveway of his home in the 2400 block of Shirley Road.

Kellish pleaded guilty to a charge of murder Tuesday, just after a jury was selected to hear his case.

Desmond described for the judge in part the beating that Simnons had suffered from Kellish, a man whom he had taken in several times who was beset by drug and mental-health issues and was at times homeless.

There were pictures to show the judge, but even with those, Desmond said he had a hard time coming up with a way to describe the injuries Simmons endured — so many that the coroner’s office could not come up with a final number.

“It can’t be described with words,” Desmond said.

Freeman said her uncle was a funny man who lived all over the country and at one point was a minister. But she said there had been problems between her uncle and Kellish, and when the word came in that Simmons had been murdered, Freeman said: “We all knew instantly who did it.”

Loretta Grace Campbell, an aunt of Simmons, said Kellish destroyed the lives of her and her family. She said her faith calls on her to forgive Kellish but it will be hard.

“You acted like the devil,” Campbell said.

Kellish’s lawyer, Tony Meranto, said his client has suffered from mental-health and substance-abuse issues but added he advised him to plead guilty because the sentence would be the same if he was convicted of murder, and it would show that he was taking responsibility. Meranto said

Kellish read from a statement and apologized, his manacled hands shaking so badly that they banged on a podium he was standing behind.

“I am sorry for what I’ve done,” Kellish said.

Judge D’Apolito said just before he handed down the sentence that Simmons did not deserve what happened to him.

“No one deserves to die the way Mr. Simmons died,” Judge D’Apolito said.