Login | April 04, 2026
7th District affirms consecutive sentences in abduction case
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: July 15, 2021
The 7th District Court of Appeals has affirmed a Belmont County trial court’s ruling imposing consecutive sentences in an abduction case.
Appellant Tia Nicole Ashley Benson appealed her sentences for two counts of complicity to commit abduction and one count of complicity to commit theft following her guilty plea. The trial court imposed consecutive, maximum sentences.
In her sole assignment of error, Benson conceded the record contains sufficient evidence that the harm to the victims in the case is so great as to render a single term of imprisonment insufficient.
However, based on the assessment in the pre-sentence investigation that she has a low risk of recidivism, she alleged there is not clear and convincing evidence in the record to support the trial court’s finding that consecutive sentences are required to protect the public from future harm, and that consecutive sentences totaling 7 ½ years are not disproportionate to the danger she poses to the public.
Benson, who committed the crimes with co-defendant Jordan Javaughn Baker, was originally charged with one count each of complicity to commit kidnapping and complicity to commit aggravated robbery, plus the theft charge.
On Nov. 4, 2018, Benson and Baker were hitchhiking, when the victims, 17-year-old K.E., who was driving a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, and 14-year-old B.D., who was in the passenger seat, stopped and offered transportation to the duo as far as Martins Ferry.
After they arrived at the McDonald’s in Martins Ferry and everyone exited the vehicle, Baker approached the victims and asked them to take him and Benson to his uncle’s house. The victims agreed, and when the automobile entered “a dark area,” Baker grabbed K.E.’s neck and pointed a gun to her head. Benson and Baker took the victims’ mobile telephones and then the victims were forced into the trunk.
The victims waited until their captors exited the vehicle, then accessed a release mechanism inside the trunk and escaped.
Benson underwent two competency evaluations during the pretrial proceedings. She was found to be capable of understanding the nature and objective of the proceedings against her and of assisting in her own defense, however, she demonstrated borderline intellectual functioning.
In an opinion written by Judge David A. D’Apolito, the appellate court agreed with the trial judge who stated at sentencing that “This is an extraordinarily serious and extraordinarily scary matter. We are lucky we do not have murder charges that we’re dealing with here, to be honest with you.”
Judge D’Apolito noted the PSI is one of several factors the trial court considered in fashioning Benson’s sentence.
“Further, although the PSI concludes that appellant has a low risk for recidivism, the investigator conceded that one factor – appellant’s lack of education and employment history - indicates a high risk of recidivism,” he wrote. “Appellant’s only employment immediately preceded the crimes at issue here, and it appears that she lost that one and only job due to her arrest. Further, appellant has a criminal history, albeit with no felonies.”
The trial court acknowledged in the judgment entry that Benson continued to commit crimes despite her prior convictions, and despite efforts to rehabilitate instead of incarcerate her.
Judge D’Apolito added that most important of all, Benson’s convictions for the case at hand were for violent crimes committed against two teenaged girls.
“Baker did not only brandish a gun, but held it to K.B.’s head,” he wrote. “The girls were robbed and forced into the trunk of the automobile. Further, appellant and Baker did not free the girls; the girls escaped as a result of their own courage and intelligence. According to a victim impact report, at least one of the victims has suffered long-term effects as a result of appellant’s crime. As the trial court observed, the criminal acts of appellant and Baker could have resulted in physical harm or death to both girls.
“Finally, appellant asserted before the trial court that she committed the crimes under duress, but the trial court apparently did not credit her testimony. Although appellant has borderline intellectual functioning, she did not assert that Baker manipulated or tricked her into committing the criminal acts.”
Seventh District judges Gene Donofrio and Carol Ann Robb concurred. The case is cited State v. Benson, 2021-Ohio-2010.