The family of an Ashland County deputy who was killed in the line of duty nearly 35 years ago is asking the Ohio Parole Board to keep one of his killers locked up.
Ashland County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Glenn Sturgill was shot and killed in August 1982-- on his his 30th birthday-- after an attempted robbery.
His son, Tim Sturgill, recently launched a petition through gopetition.com, urging the Ohio Parole Board to keep Carl Davis locked up.
A parole board hearing for Davis will take place in September, but an exact date has not been scheduled yet.
"I don't think it's fair that this guy, that he walks and gets to share his feelings and emotions with his family," Tim Sturgill said.
Tim was only 3-years-old when his father was killed. He said his sole memory of his dad remains playing with Hot Wheels on a driveway.
"I remember him tripping over one and that's really the only memory that I have. I don't remember my dad saying, 'I love you.' I don't remember him hugging me," he said, while fighting back tears.
According to the sheriff's department, Sturgill had been following three suspicious males on the night of August 2 when he saw them use a shotgun in a robbery attempt outside of Fisher Big Wheel store on Claremont Avenue.
They approached a woman in the parking lot of the store and tried to take her car. According to Sturgill's family, the sergeant witnessed the woman being held at gunpoint. "She felt so threatened that she dropped the glass jar she held and fainted," the family said.
Sturgill then followed the suspects across the street and into a cornfield. He was able to grab one of the suspects, but one of the others-- who was hiding behind a dumpster-- shot the sergeant and killed him instantly.
Sturgill's widow, Becky, was an Ashland County detective and heard part of the police radio call while at home.
"I did not hear Glenn respond to dispatch and I knew that something terrible had to have happened for him not to respond to his radio," she recalled.
David Mullins, who fired the fatal shot, Davis and a juvenile were all convicted in connection with the sergeant's death.
The minor was convicted of delinquency to complicity to aggravated robbery and was released from a juvenile facility when he turned 21, according to the Ashland County Sheriff's Department.
Mullins, convicted of aggravated murder, remains in prison and was denied parole in 2013. His next parole hearing will take place in 2021.
Davis was sentenced to 15 to 55 years in jail for involuntary manslaughter and complicity to aggravated robbery. According to Sturgill's family, Davis tried to escape less than a year after he was sent to prison, earning him more time in jail.
Tim said nearly 1,000 people have signed his petition since he started it last week. The petition includes the letter to parole board.
"If Det. Sgt. Sturgill can never be with his family again, then the person who participated in taking his life from him and his family should not be given the right to be with his," the family wrote.
