The parents escaped the burning house and Simon, who was 16 at the time of the offense, was arrested. Simon’s case was transferred to adult court and in the summer of 2014, he entered guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Craig Hedric sentenced Simon to nine years in prison on each charge to be run concurrent following a lengthy sentencing hearing, despite Simon’s parents asking that he not be sent to prison.
On appeal, Simon’s attorneys argued that Ohio’s law requiring him to be tried as an adult is unconstitutional and that the trial court’s sentence was improper because he committed the crimes with the same actions and they were allied offenses.
In an unanimous decision, the appeals court found Simon’s conviction in adult court constitutional, but agreed with his argument about the allied offenses.
“The offenses were in fact committed by the same conduct, or a single act performed with a single state of mind, because Simon set fire to the house as the sole means of killing his parents. There is no indication in the record that Simon set the fire for any other reason than to kill his parents, or that he was contemplating killing his parents by any means other than fire,” Judge Robin Piper wrote in the decision.
The case has been sent back to the trial court for re-sentencing. A hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. April 1.
Simon also filed a motion in November to withdraw his plea arguing in assistance of counsel. Hedric denied that motion.
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