Hillsboro woman sentenced in felonious assault case
A Hillsboro woman has been sentenced to a minimum two years in prison after being convicted at trial of one count of felonious assault.
As previously reported, a jury found Jennifer M. Baker, 60, guilty of the second-degree felony charge of felonious assault following a trial in Highland County Common Pleas Court Thursday, April 27.
The jury found Baker guilty of felonious assault and not guilty of a lesser finding of aggravated assault stemming from a “sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage.”
The state alleged that on or about Oct. 28, 2022, Baker called the Highland County Sheriff’s Office reporting that she had fired a shotgun at a truck driving by her home, which she believed to be driven by an ex-boyfriend of her daughter. She reported that the driver later came back and fired shots out of the truck.
During the trial, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins told the jury that on Oct. 28, 2022 at about 2 in the morning,” Baker used her 12-gauge shotgun to “open fire” on a truck sitting “on a township road.”
The ammunition “made contact with that truck clear from the front headlight, clear down the passenger side, clear around the tailgate, almost to the driver’s side,” Collins said. As a result, the passenger window was “shattered.”
The victim — who was not in fact the daughter’s ex-boyfriend — was later arrested for firing shots at Baker’s property. According to court records, he pleaded guilty in January to a bill of information charging him with felonious assault and failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer. The victim was sentenced to 59 months, or nearly five years, in prison, according to court records.
During Baker’s sentencing hearing June 1, Collins argued that Baker has shown “no remorse and has taken no responsibility for her actions,” while the victim in the case already did.
Baker’s attorney, James Boulger, spoke about the “character” of Baker, as he did during the trial. He said that Baker — who previously served as the longtime finance director of Highland County Community Action Organization — is a 60-year-old widow who runs her family farm.
Baker also spoke about her many responsibilities, said she had made “a bad mistake” and asked Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss to impose community control instead of a prison term.
However, Coss said that community control instead of prison “would send the wrong message,” and he sentenced Baker to a minimum of two years in the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Under the Reagan Tokes Law, the sentence could be as long as three years. The 12-gauge shotgun shotgun used during the offense was also ordered to be forfeited.