Grand jury indicts woman for arson

Published 10:16 am Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Coal Grove woman accused of burning down her home, four people accused in a string of robberies, an Ironton man arrested for holding up the Pine Tree Carryout and three men who held up a pizza delivery man were among those indicted late last week by a Lawrence County grand jury.

Jonna Turley, of 206 Ridgeway St., Coal Grove, was indicted on one count of second-degree felony arson.

Turley was arrested in July after authorities said she set fire to the home she rented with several other people. While others were home at the time she set fire, no one was injured.

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Clinton Cremeans, 30, of 115 County Road 28, Pedro, was indicted on one count of aggravated burglary. He is accused of going with an accomplice, Tara Adkins, 27, of 115 Private Drive 2913, Ironton, to a residence on State Route 93 in Elizabeth Township, and asking to be let in to use the bathroom.

Once inside they allegedly began to take items from the homeowners.

Adkins has already pleaded guilty on a bill of information and has agreed to testify against Cremeans.

Sara Branham, 23, of Raceland, Ky., was indicted on four counts of complicity to burglary. One of her three codefendants, William Sexton, 26, of 203 ½ Mastin Ave., Ironton, was indicted on nine counts of burglary.

They were among four people arrested last month in connection with a string of daytime burglaries of homes in the Pedro and Kitts Hill areas in August.

Two others arrested in this case, Shon Williams, 24, of 1208 S. Second St., Ironton, and Ranae Schwab, 26, of 1021 S. Sixth St., Ironton, have been arraigned on bills of information in this case. Their cases are pending in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

The four have reportedly told authorities they went to homes they intended to victimize and first knocked on the door to see if anyone was home.

If they got no answer they would break in. If the knock was answered the four reportedly told deputies they would pretend they were looking for someone and then leave.

Also indicted: Daniel Stapleton, 30, of 582 Township Road 343, Ironton, on one count each of aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence.

Stapleton was arrested last month in connection with the Aug. 11 hold up of the Pine Tree Carryout on State Route 93.

In another case, Randall Bryan, 22, of Raceland, Ky., Todd Lesniak, 26, of Ashland, Ky., and Christopher Bryan, 19, of 1023 S. Sixth St., Ironton, were each indicted on one count of aggravated burglary.

They were arrested in August after a Giovanni’s pizza delivery man told Ironton police the three men lured him to a city location and then assaulted and robbed him.

According to information from the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s office, the grand jury met Thursday and Friday and examined 35 cases.

One case was passed to the next session of the grand jury. The jury returned no indictment in another case. The grand jury returned indictments in the other 33 cases. Six of those were secret indictments for criminal non-support.

Others indicted by the grand jury were:

— Scott Fox, 2718 ½ S. 11th St., Ironton, one count of aggravated burglary and two counts of felonious assault

— Michael Smith, 52, 999 Coal Bank Hollow, Ironton, breaking and entering

— Carie Keabler, 23, 807 N. Fourth St., Ironton, receiving stolen property and misuse of a credit card

— Johnny Miller, 27, 64 Private Drive 423, Pedro, vandalism

— Melvin Keller, 44, 1556 State Route 140, Oak Hill, arson and aggravated burglary with a firearm specification

— Michael Wood, 28 one count each of burglary and theft and two counts of breaking and entering, all felonies, and one misdemeanor count of theft

— Jessica Jenkins, 21, 398 Township Road 136S, Ironton, complicity to aggravated robbery with a firearm specification

— Dewey Nance, 32, also of 396 Township Road 136S, Ironton, aggravated robbery with a firearm specification, assault and having a weapon under a disability

— Stephanie Mobley, 22, one count each of burglary and tampering with evidence and four counts of theft from the elderly

— Kevin Robinson, 41, 22 Township Road 1047 Chesapeake, failure to appear

— Brittany Spry, 23, 214 C Township Road 1430, South Point, felony counts of aggravated possession of drugs, possession of drugs and trafficking in drugs and one misdemeanor count of trafficking in drugs

— Lee Woodlee, 36, 56 Township Road 1039, Chesapeake, possession of heroin

— Randall White, 25, 16132 State Route 7, Crown City, one count each of domestic violence and resisting arrest and two counts of aggravated menacing

— Joseph R. Christian, 19, 4383 State Route 141, Kitts Hill, having a weapon under a disability and possession of drugs

— Benjamin Layne, 30, 4104 County Road 15, South Point, theft from the elderly and forgery

— Ronald L. Chatterton, 209 Township Road 99, South Point, driving while intoxicated

— James Robinson, 1212 S. Eighth St., Ironton, six counts of rape. Five of the counts involve a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the alleged incidents; the sixth count involves a girl who was 13 at the time of the alleged incident

— Earl White, 2444 S. Sixth St., Ironton, rape involving an adult woman.