COLUMBUS — The mother of slain Ohio State University senior Reagan Tokes on Wednesday laid part of the responsibility for the death of her daughter at the feet of the state’s crime laws.
“No person should ever have to experience what she did, and no parent or family should ever have to live with it for the remainder of their lives. Reagan did. We are, and it is so wrong,” Lisa McCrary-Tokes told the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee.
“It is especially wrong due to the flaws and failures with the current laws and practices of the state of Ohio,” she said. “This is where the responsibility lies for what happened to her, along with the evil that inflicted his presence and violence upon her.”
Reagan Tokes, a 21-year-old former Monclova Township resident and Anthony Wayne High School graduate, was kidnapped, raped, and forced to withdraw $60 from an automated cash machine on Feb. 8 as she left her job at a Columbus restaurant south of the Ohio State campus. She was shot and her body left in a Grove City park south of Columbus.
Her alleged killer, Brian Lee Golsby, 29, could receive the death penalty if convicted. A registered sex offender, he had been recently released from prison after serving time for attempted rape and was living in a halfway house with a GPS ankle monitoring bracelet.
But he is still accused of assaulting and robbing several people before attacking Ms. Tokes. His electronic ankle monitor, while later used to retrace his steps, was not being monitored in real time. He was initially connected with the crime from DNA found on a cigarette in Ms. Tokes’ car.
A pair of Senate bills and a single House bill seek to reinstate sentence ranges with minimum and maximum sentences for certain crimes, using the potential additional time as leverage to get inmates to behave and improve themselves while behind bars.
It also seeks to increase parole supervision and require restrictions to be placed on those under GPS monitoring so that real-time alerts go out when violations occur.
“Seriously, I can’t even believe this is what is in place in the state of Ohio, especially being that it is 2017 and significant technology exists to support the [proposed reforms]. Our daughter lost her life over this flawed system,” Ms. McCrary-Tokes said as her husband, Toby Tokes, stood by her side.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Bill Coley (R., West Chester), praised the Tokeses for their courage in appearing before the committee, but he noted that it may take some time to work through issues in the bill.
A legislative fiscal analysis suggests the costs of one bill’s requirement that the state establish a new reentry program to house recently released inmates if they are not accepted by halfway houses “could potentially be significant, easily in the millions of dollars.”
The cost to establish new caseload standards for parole officers could carry a price tag of about $75,000 a year in salary and benefits for each new officer hired.
There appears to be more agreement on the sentencing reforms side, said Sen. Kevin Bacon (R., Columbus), the sponsor of the two Senate bills.
“Is there a price tag too high to pay to protect the life of someone who positively impacts and influences society?” Ms. McCrary-Tokes asked the committee. “I am certain none of you have to guess what our answer is that question.”
The move toward sentence reforms moves in the opposite direction the state has gone over the last two decades, moving toward finite sentences. It also occurs as the state has tried to reduce prison overcrowding and costs.
Ms. McCrary-Tokes also planned to testify later in the day in support of the House version of the bill.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
First Published November 1, 2017, 2:44 p.m.
