He stabbed an elderly man seven times and stole the rings right off his fingers.

Melvin Harris, II, 54, then took the victim's jewelry to a local pawnshop to exchange them for cash.

On Thursday, Harris, of the 1200 block of Halstead Street entered an Alford plea — not admitting guilt — to aggravated murder for the Aug. 1 death of Richard “Ricardo” Jiminez, 82.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gene Zmuda found Harris guilty and imposed the agreed-upon sentence of life in prison with parole eligibility after Harris serves 25 years.

Harris, who served a prior prison sentence for the 1988 stabbing death of his uncle, said nothing before he was sentenced.

His attorney, Drew Griffith, told the court Harris regretted his actions.

“He offers his apology to the family of the victim,” Mr. Griffith said. “He understands that he's responsible for his actions.”

Brian Boos, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court a neighbor found Mr. Jiminez lying on the floor of his East Broadway Street home Aug. 4 after not seeing him for several days and noticing that his door was open.

An autopsy would conclude that he died from multiple stab wounds, Mr. Boos said, and the victim's pacemaker would reveal that he was killed on Aug. 1.

“The victim's heart rate spiked drastically requiring the pacemaker to act, and that was on Aug. 1, the same day that the stolen items were pawned by the defendant,” Mr. Boos said.

Surveillance video from Toledo Gold Exchange would show Harris bringing the victim's rings in to pawn, Mr. Boos said, and DNA testing revealed Harris' blood on a folding knife found on Mr. Jiminez's kitchen counter and in other areas of his home.

“The defendant's blood was also determined to be on a faucet and a door handle” at the victim's home, Mr. Boos said. “Of note was that the defendant told the detective previously that he had never been in the victim's house where his DNA was located.”

As part of a plea agreement, Judge Zmuda dismissed additional charges of murder and aggravated robbery.

Court records show Harris was charged with murder in 1988 for the slaying of Alfred McClendon, 69. He ultimately pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in that case.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published November 30, 2017, 5:43 p.m.