A Geauga County grand jury has indicted the grandson suspected of killing his paternal grandmother in Russell Township in January on nine felony counts, including aggravated murder.
Clayton Phillips, 18, of 8419 Cloverridge Road, Russell Township, also faces two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, one count of tampering with evidence, one count of possessing criminal tools, one count of misuse of credit cards and one count of gross abuse of a corpse in the murder of Ruth Phillips, 81, who was found stabbed to death in the basement of her home on Jan. 21.
The murder counts are both unclassified felonies; the felonious assault counts are a second degree felonies; the tampering with evidence count is a third degree felony; the possessing criminal tools, misuse of credit cards and gross abuse of a corpse counts are fifth degree felonies.
The aggravated murder count carries a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Geauga County Coroner Robert Coleman has ruled the death a homicide, said Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz in a press release Thursday.
Clayton will be arraigned at 2 p.m. May 6 in front of Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Forrest Burt.
Clayton had been taken into police custody at a home on Lake Shore Drive in Little Punderson in Newbury Township around 1:45 a.m. Jan. 22.
He was arraigned later that morning via video in Chardon Municipal Court on a probation violation for failing to follow all of the recommendations set forth in a jail treatment program on a prior conviction.
Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica found that Phillips had violated his probation and ordered him held in the Geauga County Safety Center without bond.
Clayton had been sent to Russell Township from Texas last year to live with Ruth, several sources told the Geauga County Maple Leaf.
Ruth had reportedly taken in her troubled grandson, who was the only other resident in her house, around May of last year. He was arrested in September for illegal use/possession of marijuana, unauthorized use of a vehicle and theft, according to court records.
Although the amount of the theft warranted a felony charge, Clayton was convicted of a first-degree misdemeanor theft as well as unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to court records.
He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with 120 of the days suspended, on each count with the time to run consecutively. He was ordered to attend counseling and to pay restitution to his grandmother in the amount of $584 by March 31, 2014.
Clayton also was placed on one-year probation, which was scheduled to end Nov. 6, 2014.
He served his jail time starting Sept. 23 and was released Jan. 20.
As previously reported, a friend of Ruth’s had been trying to reach her since the night of Jan. 20 and became concerned for her welfare.
The female friend called the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office at 6:48 p.m. to request a welfare check on Ruth. She said she had spoken to Clayton on the phone several times and he was giving conflicting reasons why his grandmother could not come to the phone, according to the call log.
Two Russell Township police officers responded, entered the residence and found Ruth dead, Russell Township Police Chief Tim Carroll said. Neither Ruth nor Clayton’s vehicles were at the residence, so police began a search that eventually led to Clayton’s apprehension. It is believed he fled in Ruth’s vehicle, which a neighbor said was a Buick.
Another neighbor described Ruth Phillips as a very nice lady and said Clayton cut her grass occasionally in the summer. But he also did not believe Clayton lived at her home all of the time.