NKY man pardoned by Bevin found guilty in first of three strangulation trials
The woman was on the phone with her mother while being strangled, prosecutors say.
CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Pardoned by former Ky. Gov. Matt Bevin nearly three years ago, a man was found guilty of strangulation on Wednesday.
The Kenton County jury recommended a sentence of five years for Joheim Bandy.
“This is definitely someone we’re afraid of,” said Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders.
Sanders was furious in 2019 when Bevin pardoned numerous convicted criminals, Bandy included.
“The sad reality of this case is that Bandy never should have been out of prison in the first place to commit these crimes, and a young woman almost lost her life because of it,” Sanders said Wednesday.
Bandy had been sentenced to 13 years on an assault and robbery conviction. He only served around a year before his pardon.
“He hadn’t had nearly enough rehabilitation to give me confidence whatsoever that he had turned his life around like Governor Bevin opined in the pardon,” Sanders said.
Sanders said it didn’t take long for Bandy to get in trouble. Officers began looking for him after several reports of strangulation in the City Heights neighborhood.
“They were coming in faster than they could find him,” Sanders said.
Bandy was found guilty Wednesday in the first of three strangulation trials. Sanders says a neighbor witnessed Bandy attacking a young mother in April 2022.
“She called 911 and told the operator that she observed Mr. Bandy holding her neighbor by the hair and punching her in the face,” Sanders said.
Prosecutors say the woman had been on the phone with her mom when it happened, hearing her daughter being assaulted and crying for help. The victim did not want to testify on fears of what Bandy would do to her, Sanders said.
“The world is a safer place because of her,” Sanders said. “And she’s probably going to save a lot of other women from being assaulted by Mr. Bandy as well, because at least for a little while he’s going to be behind bars.”
Bandy’s sentencing is scheduled for late January.
His second strangulation trial is scheduled for February. The third does not yet have a trial date.
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