Coonrod files notice of appeal

Wesley Coonrod has filed documents in the Pickaway County Clerk of Courts Office Friday, seeking an appeal on his convictions of manslaughter.
 

Coonrod's attorney Eric J. Allen, of Columbus, who was appointed by the court to represent Coonrod on Feb. 9, filed the notice of appeal Friday.
 

In January, Coonrod, 43, of Greenfield, was found guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter, felonies of the first degree, in the deaths of his sons Thomas, 4, and Stephen, 3 during a more than weeklong jury trial in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court. He was found not guilty on one count of aggravated arson. 
 

Prosecutors had alleged Coonrod set the March 7 fire at 150 A Lafayette Street in Greenfield that killed his sons. The defense alleged that Thomas or Stephen could have set the fire.

Coonrod had been found guilty on two counts of child endangering during a jury trial in October in Highland County Common Pleas Court. The jury was hung on two charges of murder, with death penalty specifications, and the charge of aggravated arson.
 

The state did not seek the death penalty in the second trial. 

During sentencing on Jan 31, Coonrod told presiding Judge Rocky Coss that he planned to appeal the convictions and that he wanted the appeal filed right away. Coonrod had 30 days from the time the sentencing entry was filed to file the notice of appeal. Coss sentenced Coonrod to 20 years in prison. 

During the criminal trials Coonrod was represented by attorneys William Mooney and David McHenry.  
 

The appeal will be heard in Ohio's Fourth District Court of Appeals.