CLEVELAND (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team has found a young woman heading to prison for life after a crime spree, including the murder of Cleveland Police Officer Shane Bartek.
Tamara McLoyd will have a chance for parole, but not until she’s a senior citizen.
On New Year’s Eve, McLoyd carjacked and shot officer Bartek while he was off-duty. Cuyahoga County prosecutors also convicted her for several other robberies.
It all happened while McLoyd was on probation to Lorain County Juvenile Court. The I-Team found no one from the court had ever checked up on her.
In court on Tuesday, Bartek’s sister said, “He loved to give, to help, to save… because that’s who he was.”
His mother said, “The night we found out he was killed, we went to the hospital to see him. I couldn’t hold my baby or wipe the blood from his face.”
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Kevin Filiatraut said, “She just committed robbery after robbery, gun after gun.”
McLoyd turned down a chance to speak when asked by the judge.
Her mother asked for mercy, saying McLoyd has battled mental illness.
“Tamara has been fighting her own battles since the age of 5,” her mother said.
“You threatened. You stalked. You stole. You robbed,” Judge John O’ Donnell told McLoyd.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors asked for a sentence of life in prison without parole. However, the judge said he would not go that far.
“We have hope,” he said. “We regard other human beings with dignity.”
New video obtained by the I-Team shows McLoyd in jail flying into a rage and complaining about getting moved to a different part of the jail. The video shows her shouting about her case and claiming to be a victim.
“This is what you get when you kill a (expletive) cop. This what happens when you kill a white man,” she said.
Consider also what investigators recorded on jailhouse phone calls. Records show McLoyd talked about trying to do 20 years or less in prison, saying she’ll be laughing behind bars, she’s made history and her crime has made her famous.
But, now she’ll be locked up for much, much longer than she had hoped.
The judge also sentenced two other people for carrying out robberies with McLoyd, punishing them with prison terms of 17 and 36 years.