Victim allegedly was kidnapped, beaten, and forced to take drugs during three day ordeal –
By Patricia Beech –
The eight-man, four-woman jury seated in the trial of an Adams County man charged with kidnapping and assault began deliberation Thursday afternoon following closing arguments by the defense and prosecution teams in Adams County Common Pleas Court, with Judge Brett Spencer presiding.
Charles Rubin Tumey was charged with two counts of kidnapping and four counts of felonious assault after he allegedly forcibly restrained and beat his live-in girlfriend, Donna Baker, 51 of Peebles, holding her captive at their residence near Peebles from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12, 2016.
In testimony before the court, Baker identified Tumey as her assailant and said he had forced her to use both heroin and the sedative Seroquel during the three days she was allegedly held captive and beaten.
She also suffers from hearing and memory loss as a result of the assault.
Defense attorney John Kornely told the jury that Tumey was not present at the couple’s Mineral Springs home during the three days that Baker claims she was held captive and assaulted by him. They argued that law-enforcement and the prosecutor’s office had “put memories in Baker’s head”. Additionally, they argued that Tumey’s distress was evident when he called 911 to report that he had found Baker breathing, but unresponsive.
In the prosecution’s closing rebuttal statement, Assistant Prosecutor Kris Blanton dismissed the defense’s argument and Tumey’s alibi telling the jury that during the 911 call, “He (Tumey) could be heard asking, what happened to ‘this woman’, not what happened to my girlfriend, or not what happened to Donna – think about that,” he said, “He says he wasn’t there, but think about what you didn’t hear him say, if he wasn’t there for all three days, where was he? We don’t have a place, person, or time when he was anywhere else.”
“This all goes back to being in control, and Tumey wanted to be in control,” Blanton continued. “Until she (Baker) woke up, he was in control of the story, he controlled the 911 call, he controlled the (bloody) clothing, and he controlled what she looked like (when authorities arrived at the property).
As of press time on Thursday afternoon, the jury had not yet reached a verdict in the case.
UPDATE:
The jury’s verdict in the Tumey trial was delivered on Thursday evening, Feb. 8. Tumey was found guilty on all of the assault charges and not guilty on the kidnapping charge. Judge Brett Spencer sentenced Tumey to six years in prison on each charge, for a total sentence of 24 years. Tumey was immediately taken from Adams County to Ohio’s prison receiving facility.
