Because of several potential conflicts, lawyers from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office will be prosecuting the case of a now-retired Toledo Police lieutenant and a Toledo couple charged in a plot to shoot a woman.

Frank Ramirez, 58, of 5925 Tetherwood Drive; Maytee Vazquez-Clarke, 44, and her husband, John Clarke, 45, both of 429 Danberry St., each are charged with felonious assault with a firearm specification. Ms. Vazquez-Clarke faces an additional charge of obstructing justice, while Mr. Ramirez also is charged with obstructing justice and tampering with evidence.

In a brief appearance before Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Gene Zmuda today, Michael Cody, an associate assistant Attorney General, said he and a colleague would be representing the state.

Mr. Cody said afterward that Lucas County prosecutors asked the Attorney General’s office to step in because Mr. Ramirez was a longtime Toledo Police officer and because the Clarkes are the parents of murder victim Johnny Clarke, 21, who along with his girlfriend, Lisa Straub, 20, were asphyxiated in Ms. Straub’s parents’ home in Springfield Township in 2011.

In the case against the Clarkes and Mr. Ramirez, the trio is charged with planning to shoot Tiffany Williams, who testified as a witness in the trials of two men charged with the Springfield Township murders. John Clarke allegedly tried to shoot Ms. Williams Dec. 26 with help from his wife and Mr. Ramirez.

“We worked extensively with the Clarkes” during their son’s murder case, said Jeff Lingo, chief of the criminal division for the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office. “It’s also possible that one of our assistants may be called as a witness in this case because there were conversations between him and the Clarke family after this occurred.”

Judge Zmuda scheduled a pretrial hearing for April 8.

First Published April 1, 2015, 2:12 p.m.