Man Gets 30 To Life In Teen’s Murder

MADISON COUNTY, Ohio—A man pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the 1991 slaying of a teenager Friday.

NBC 4’s Candice Lee reported with the FAST FACTS.

Jessica Lyn Keen’s family received closure Friday.

Marvin Smith Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.

In 1991, 15-year-old Jessica Keen was last seen at the Huckleberry House—a home for runaways.

The former Westland cheerleader was raped, murdered and dumped in a Madison County graveyard.

Investigators were able to determine that before her death, Keen ran barefoot through a ditch, over a fence and crouched behind grave markers as she tried to hide from her killer.

Smith Jr. made the plea before a panel of three judges at the Madison County Common Pleas court Friday afternoon.

Madison County Judge Robert Nichols, along with two other common pleas judges, presided over the court because the aggravated murder charge carried a rape and kidnapping specification, making the death penalty an option.

After accepting Smith Jr.‘s guilty plea, Nichols sentenced him to 30 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors said DNA evidence linked Smith Jr. to Keen’s cold-case murder.

Smith Jr.‘s DNA was obtained after he served time for attempted kidnapping and rape in Franklin County in 1991.

Investigators said Smith Jr. lived in the Short North area during the time of Keen’s disappearance and murder.

Then, March 17, 2008, the 17-year anniversary of the discovery of Keen’s body, technology made a computerized match with Smith.

Family members said they can now move on with their lives and if not for the hard work of investigators, justice may not have come.

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