Grand jury files murder indictment

CELINA - Francy Majo, 19, Coldwater, has been indicted by a grand jury on an unclassified charge of murder in connection to the death of Sandra Renner, 47, in her Coldwater apartment.

A grand jury returned the indictment on Thursday, and the newspaper was shown the indictment to be served to Majo this morning. An indictment is a formal charge and does not indicate guilt or innocence. Majo is tentatively scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 26.

Majo made his initial court appearance in Celina Municipal Court on Jan. 5 on an unclassified felony murder charge. Police documents say he had confessed to the stabbing death of Renner, his neighbor, but Majo has not pleaded guilty to the charges against him in court.

The victim's mother, Sherry McCord, reportedly had called Mercer County 9-1-1 at about 8:41 a.m. Jan. 3. In the recording of the call, which was requested by the newspaper, McCord said she had found her daughter lying face up on Renner's living room floor at 914 N. Elm St. McCord said in the call that she had found Renner cold to the touch and naked with "blood all over her ..." McCord said the last time she'd spoken with her daughter had been on Dec. 29. Renner reportedly had several lacerations and obvious signs indicated a physical struggle. Coldwater EMS responded and confirmed Renner had died.

Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation employees had arrived and begun searching the apartment for evidence, according to court documents. During an initial examination, they reportedly found that Renner had multiple stab wounds to her chest.

In a court document, Coldwater Police Detective David Dues said he'd contacted three occupants of a neighboring apartment on Jan. 3. The fourth resident, Majo, had arrived home from work in the early morning hours of Jan. 4.

Majo had been interviewed with the assistance of an interpreter fluent in Marshallese and initially had denied any involvement in Renner's death, according to court documents. When presented with pictures of evidence collected from the apartment complex's dumpster, Majo reportedly eventually had admitted the items collected from the dumpster were his and that he had discarded them in the dumpster.

According to court documents, Majo then had said that a few days prior - he believed it was Dec. 31 - he had walked to Sandra Renner's apartment, had stabbed her to death and then left the scene.

Coldwater Police Chief Jason Miller had told the newspaper that DNA samples had been collected from Renner's body, which would help investigators determine if others had been involved.