Judge hands down same sentence in child death
Fayette County Judge Gerald R. Solomon told convicted killer Franklin Weimer on Friday that he modeled his 221/2- to 45-year sentence with the same harshness the 33-year-old used to kill Zachary Johnson in January 1998. “It’s apparent you showed no mercy to Zachary Johnson, an innocent 2-year-old infant. I will show no mercy for you,” Solomon said.
The judge sentenced Weimer to 20 to 40 years in prison for third-degree murder and a consecutive 21/2 to five years for endangering the welfare of a child. Jurors convicted Weimer earlier this month of beating Johnson to death, possibly with his hand or a shower brush.
Solomon imposed that same sentence nearly five years ago, when Weimer was first convicted of killing the toddler.
Solomon’s sentencing wrapped up Weimer’s second trial in Johnson’s death. The state Superior Court ordered a retrial for Weimer after determining the case wasn’t handled properly the first time.
Before Weimer was sentenced, members of Johnson’s family addressed the court, trying to explain how their lives have been changed since the toddler’s death.
Tearfully, Johnson’s mother, Julie Johnson Marinelli, told a packed courtroom that her son’s absence is painfully apparent every day. “(Zachary) just had Christmas. He’ll never get to see another birthday or holiday. As his mother, I will never get a chance to see him grown,” said Johnson Marinelli, who was living with Weimer in Hopwood when he beat the toddler Jan. 24, 1998.
Mark Rambo Jr., not Weimer, was the toddler’s father.
Rambo’s mother, Rose, also spoke at the sentencing, testifying about the endless pain of seeing children and wondering how her grandson’s life would have been if he were alive.
“At work, co-workers share pictures and experiences of their children and grandchildren. I can’t. I don’t have that,” she said, crying.
Rambo also said that all of Johnson’s family members had plans for his life and things they wanted to do for the toddler.
“All that was just snuffed out in a second,” she said.
Johnson Marinelli’s mother, Rose Mary Johnson said she will always treasure the memories of her grandson, but she is haunted by questions about the events surrounding his death.
“I want to know if he cried for his mommy. I want to know if he ran through the house to hide from his attacker. I want to know if he felt any pain,” said Johnson.
Weimer, however, did not speak at his sentencing, and he maintained through expert testimony at his trial that the toddler died when he hit his head on a table leg.
Prosecutors have theorized that the shower brush caused the 27-month-old’s injuries, but Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. told jurors at the trial that it was conceivable that Weimer got rid of the murder weapon after Johnson was rushed to Children’s Hospital for care.
Weimer was watching the toddler while Johnson Marinelli worked an 11 p.m.-to-7-a.m. shift at a personal care home. About 30 minutes after she arrived at work, he called her and said that Johnson fell down three steps.
Weimer maintained that story until after Johnson’s death, on Jan. 26, 1998, when, confronted with the shower brush and autopsy photos, he told state police that he was spinning Johnson around and accidentally hit his head into a wall.
At trial, however, a medical expert based his opinion that Johnson’s death was an accident on Weimer’s story that the toddler hit his head on a table leg, something that police testified Weimer never told them.
Calling Johnson’s death “savage and brutal,” Solomon chastised Weimer for lying about how the child was injured by concocting three versions of events.
“The jury … saw through each of the falsehoods and saw you for what you truly are, a murderer,” Solomon said, reading from a prepared statement.
The jurist told Weimer his lies were telling evidence that he had something to hide.
“Like an operation that excises cancer from the body, we can excise you from society,” said Solomon, explaining that he intended to hand down the maximum penalty for the charges.
Solomon gave Weimer credit for the three years, three months he served after his arrest in 1998 and after his first conviction.