Prisoner gets life sentence in Lebanon Correctional inmate’s death

The Lebanon Correctional Institution. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

The Lebanon Correctional Institution. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

An incarcerated man will spend at least six more decades in prison following his sentence in the December 2023 death of a fellow Lebanon Correctional Institution inmate.

James J. Ogletree, 30, was sentenced Thursday by Warren County Common Pleas Judge Timothy Tepe to 46 years to life in prison in the death of 32-year-old MarQuise DaShawn Weatherington of Lorain. A Warren County jury earlier convicted Ogletree of murder, felonious assault and aggravated robbery.

The judge ordered Ogletree’s new sentence to run consecutively to his previous sentence, which means he will not be eligible for release from prison for 64 years, until 2089.

James Ogletree

Credit: Warren County Jail

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Credit: Warren County Jail

At the time of Weatherington’s death, Ogletree, who is now incarcerated in the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, was serving a significant prison term for offenses in Cuyahoga and Lake counties, including robbery and involuntary manslaughter, with a scheduled release date of October 2043, according to the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.

Ogletree was accused of entering Weatherington’s cell on Dec. 6, 2023, and violently assaulting him. Weatherington was discovered deceased in his cell the next morning. An autopsy revealed he died of numerous inflicted injuries, including multiple blunt force traumas to the head, as well as evidence of strangulation, the prosecutor’s office said in a release.

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