CINCINNATI (AP) - An Ohio prosecutor says a grand jury has indicted a man on 10 counts that include an aggravated murder charge that carries a potential death sentence in the killing of a police officer.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced the charges Wednesday against Terry Blankenship, 42, accused of killing a police officer by crashing into her during a chase.
Blankenship is charged with purposefully killing an officer on duty, which has a death specification with conviction. He also is charged with murder, which could result in a life sentence.
Springdale officer Kaia Grant, 33, was killed March 21 after she was struck while Blankenship was allegedly fleeing police.
Police were trying to arrest Blankenship on a felony warrant from Blanchester, Ohio. When the chase entered the Springdale city limits on Interstate 275, Grant and Sgt. Andrew Davis were trying to deploy stop sticks when Blankenship allegedly crashed into the pair. Davis was treated for injuries and survived.
Deters has said Blankenship survived a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
Blankenship is being held on $2 million bond. Records didn’t indicate whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Grant had been with the Springdale force for eight years. Authorities said she was the first police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the northern Cincinnati suburb’s history.
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This story was first published May 27, 2020. It was updated May 28, 2020, to correct the name of the man charged in the death of a Cincinnati police officer. He is Terry Blankenship, not Larry Blankenship.
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