AA member Kenneth Booker has been arrested in the murder of his estranged wife.
Police records say he had also been arrested March 22, 2013 after this AA member threatened to shoot her with a .22-caliber handgun.
On Nov. 22 Booker completed the county’s treatment program and he was mandated to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings three times per week! This man had a violent history going back to 1989 which eventually ended in murder. The judges will send anyone to AA meetings, no matter what their crimes are.
Prosecutors: East Cleveland woman, 59, strangled by estranged husband
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio— Authorities said on Thursday that a 59-year-old woman was strangled inside her apartment and prosecutors have charged her estranged husband in connection with her death.
Kenneth Booker, 54, was charged Thursday with aggravated murder in East Cleveland Municipal Court. Judge William L. Dawson set bond at $1 million and his case was bound over to a Cuyahoga County grand jury to decide how the case will proceed.
Prosecutors on Thursday said Booker is accused of strangling to death Carolyn Blair, 59, of East Cleveland inside her apartment. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner has not yet officially ruled on the death.
East Cleveland Prosecutor Willa Hemmons said in court and in an interview with the Northeast Ohio Media Group that she observed Booker and Blair walking out of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, some four hours before Blair was found dead.
Hemmons said Booker loudly cursed at Blair from the time they left the justice center to Tower City.
“They were right in front of me and I heard him yelling at her,” Hemmons said. “So I lagged behind to make sure nothing happened. I was kind of afraid something might.”
Hemmons said she overheard Booker telling a relative he was planning to visit the relative’s home later in the day, which is where police eventually arrested Booker on suspicion of murder.
Booker, according to detectives, Hemmons and a search of court records, has been convicted of domestic violence five times since 1989.
He was convicted of domestic violence against Blair twice, once in 2001 and once in 2013.
Booker pleaded guilty to fourth-degree felony domestic violence in the 2013 case was sentenced to two years probation.
Police records say Booker was arrested March 22, 2013 after Booker threatened to shoot her with a .22-caliber handgun, which reports say they confiscated after the arrest.
Booker on Nov. 22 completed the county’s treatment program and was ordered that he attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings three times per week.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/01/prosecutors_east_cleveland_wom.html
