Senate Bill 295 — backed by parents of fallen Cleveland Officer Jamieson Ritter — signed into law

Описание: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 295 into law Friday evening, closing a legal loophole that Jon and Karen Ritter say nearly let their son's killer walk free — and changing the landscape of the state's criminal justice system forever.

Their son, Cleveland Police Officer Jamieson Ritter, was shot and killed in the line of duty on July 4, 2024. He was 27 years old.

The man charged with his murder, De'Lawnte Hardy, has pleaded not guilty but was declared incompetent to stand trial. Under the previous law, Ohio's competency restoration period was capped at one year. For the Ritters, that deadline nearly became a devastating reality.

S.B. 295 extends that period to three years for defendants charged with the most serious crimes — including aggravated murder and murder. It also requires state hospitals to notify courts within 14 days if a defendant refuses medication, and pauses the restoration clock during any period of refusal.

For Jon and Karen, the road to this moment has been anything but easy.

"He went five months without taking his medication — it was almost embarrassing because it was something very simple," Jon Ritter said of Hardy. "So it's going save a lot of people in the future from going through the things that we've gone through."

But even as they celebrate this victory, Karen Ritter is clear: No law, no signature, no courtroom win will ever fill the void left by their son.

"There's never going to be closure," she said. "I'm never going to see my son again."

Amaya Ward and Lindsay Buckingham report: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/loc...