Judge sentences convicted killer to death at resentencing

CINCINNATI – An Ohio judge has sentenced a convicted serial killer to the death penalty in the man’s resentencing for slaying two teenage girls.

The judge on Tuesday followed the jury’s recommendation in the resentencing of 49-year-old Anthony Kirkland.

Kirkland was sentenced to death in 2010 for killing 14-year-old Casonya Crawford and 13-year-old Esme Kenney. Ohio’s Supreme Court overturned that sentence.

Kirkland’s lawyers argued for life in prison without the possibility of parole. They argued Kirkland was sexually, physically and mentally abused as a child and his life should be spared.

The prosecutor sought the death penalty, citing the “human carnage” committed. Authorities say he strangled the teens and burned their bodies.

Kirkland is serving a life sentence for killing two women in 2006.

A message left Tuesday for Kirkland’s attorneys was not immediately returned.