Killer convicted after violent rampage in Athens County denied appeal

ATHENS, Ohio (WCMH) – A man convicted of a deadly rampage in Athens County was denied an appeal and will serve out his life prison sentence that was issued in 2023.

According to the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, the State of Ohio’s Fourth District Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Justin Pennington, 38, who is imprisoned in the Noble Correctional Facility. He is serving a life sentence, with the possibility of parole after 27 years and 11 months.

Pennington, of Guysville, was found guilty of murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of felonious assault, and breaking and entering, which resulted in the death of 59-year-old Blaine Sharpe, of Lodi Township.

The prosecutor’s office previously reported that on June 13, 2021, Pennington went to Blaine Sharpe’s home and “brutally assaulted” the man. The sheriff’s office noted that Pennington then left Sharpe for dead, walked to Sharpe’s daughter’s house, and told her that he “just beat the pulp out of her father, he is laying on the porch and she better go check on him.”

When paramedics arrived at the scene, Sharpe was unresponsive, with blood pooling in his nose, ears, and mouth. He was taken to O’Bleness Hospital in Athens, where he died from his injuries.

Less than an hour after Pennington caused Sharpe’s death, he assaulted another woman on Fossil Rock Road with an aluminum baseball bat. Authorities said Pennington fled into nearby woods, where law enforcement took him into custody.

Pennington was also accused of attacking another man in August 2018; however, the victim was uncooperative with the police investigation at the time. 

When he was offered an opportunity to speak in court during last year’s sentencing hearing, Pennington told the victim’s family he was, “sorry, very sorry,” and did not expect their forgiveness.