MANCI ex-inmate gets 21 years after plucking out cellmate’s eyes

A former Mansfield Correctional Institution inmate who plucked out his cellmate’s eyeballs and flushed them down a toilet will spend an additional 21 years in prison.

William Taylor, 33, was sentenced Tuesday in Richland County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to attempted murder with a repeat violent offender specification and tampering with evidence.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed a charge of felonious assault with a repeat violent offender violation.

“He pretty much pled to everything he did,” Assistant Prosecutor Matt Metcalf said. “The felonious assault would have merged with the attempted murder.”

Taylor already was serving a 63year sentence for a 2019 incident in Dayton. He was convicted of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault, aggravated burglary, assault, harassment by an inmate and escape, according to Ohio Department and Rehabilitation and Correction records.

In the 2019 incident, three Dayton police officers were injured while trying to arrest Taylor and another suspect. For that case, Taylor was not scheduled to be released from prison until 2082.

The latest charges came out of a May 2022 incident at MANCI.

“He was only here for about a halfday before this happened,” Metcalf said. “I don’t think he knew the victim at all.”

He said prosecutors wanted Taylor to serve as many years as possible. His 21-year sentence will run consecutive to his 63-year stint. Taylor was sentenced by Judge Phil Naumoff.

Taylor is now an inmate at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

“It’s pretty crazy stuff,” Metcalf said. “Thankfully, we don’t get a ton of cases that graphic.” mcaudill@gannett.com 419-521-7219

Twitter: @Mnjcaudill