Man gets 14 years for killing girlfriend in meth binge
Killing in August, 2018, occurred in their home where children were.
A Warren County LEBANON — man has begun a 14-year prison sentence for fatally shooting his girlfriend in August 2018 after a methamphetamine binge.
Christopher Timmons, now 36, was sentenced by Judge Timothy Tepe after a new case charging him with involuntary manslaughter was filed in Warren County Common Pleas Court on July 26, according to court records.
On Tuesday, Timmons was listed in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction Reception Center, where he will be assessed before being sent to one of the state’s prisons.
Timmons was convicted in the fatal shooting of Darlene Yocum, 32, on Aug. 4, 2018, at their Hamilton Twp. home while children were there.
He was sentenced on July 30, to 11 years for involuntary manslaughter and three years on a gun specification, according to court and prison records.
Timmons was facing charges of murder, felonious assault and reckless homicide, as well as five counts of endangering children.
“The case came down to whether his conduct was ‘knowing’ versus ‘reckless,’” County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Wednesday.
To prove the murder, Fornshell said the children “would have had to recount what was certainly a horrific experience for the them.”
“The children had differing recollections of the sequence of certain events, so their testimony would have been vigorously examined.”
Timmons faced 15 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
Instead, prosecutors decided to agree to the plea agreement, Fornshell said.
Timmons shot Yocum after returning home from three days away from home with methamphetamines in his system, Fornshell said at the time of the indictment.
Timmons’ lawyer, Glen Rossi, said the case was tragic on multiple levels. “This was the woman he loved. It was not an intentional shooting,” Rossi said.
During the incident in the home’s kitchen, two shots were fired, including one close to Yocum’s neck, Fornshell said.
First responders who helped the children were honored for going beyond the call of duty to care for the children.