Jimmy David Cole, 30, Bowling Green, has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murder of Alicia Rosa and her unborn son Amor, Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson announced today (1-12-2024).
The penalty for murder in Ohio is a term of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. As Cole will be serving the terms consecutively, he will have to serve 30 years before he has an opportunity for parole. There is no guarantee that he will be released when he comes before the parole board.
While Cole had pled guilty to other charges, those charges merged into the two counts of murder.
The charges stem from the March 30, 2023 incident in Bowling Green, where Rosa died as a result of receiving four stab wounds. Baby Amor died as a result of the death of his mother.
The defense had argued at the sentencing hearing that the two murder charges should merge into one because there was no evidence that Amor was viable by legal standards at the time of his death.
Dobson argued that viability was not necessary to be proven under the murder statute as well as the fact that evidence showed that the infant was 20-21 weeks old and was alive and healthy at the time of the stabbing.
Common Pleas Court Judge Joel Kuhlman rejected the defense argument and sentenced Cole on the two separate charges.
