Immediately after killing 75-year-old Take Gangloff with a single shot to the head, Robert L. Jones ran back to his friends and declared, "I just bodied her ... I'm a pure savage," according to court documents.
Jones, who turned 18 on July 6, was sentenced Tuesday morning to 36 years to life in prison for the Sept. 13, 2013 aggravated murder of Gangloff near a Dayton bus stop and other crimes. Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Dankof said Gangloff was murdered for "no purpose I can think of."
Jones, aka Da'Ron, also pleaded guilty to attempted breaking and entering, aggravated robbery with 3-year firearm specifications and intimidation of a crime victim — some of the crimes tied to a separate event weeks after Gangloff's death on Norwood Avenue. Jones will receive 284 days of jail-time credit.
"I'm sorry for what I've done to the victim," Jones told Dankoff, adding that he is "very remorseful."
In court documents, prosecutors Mary Ellen Ditchey and Robert Deschler said Jones wrote a letter to Dankoff attempting to explain why he shot Gangloff, but ultimately blamed his friends for making him do it. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of life without parole plus more years for other crimes.
"It's a strong sentence and we hope it sends a message to those who would pick up guns and perpetrate violence in community that it won't be tolerated," Deschler said after the sentencing.
Defense attorney Anthony VanNoy, who detailed Jones' many mental problems in court documents, asked for a "low-end sentence with a heavy focus on treatment."
The Montgomery County Prosecutor's office announced in October that Jones would be tried as an adult. Gangloff was a native of Okinawa, Japan who came to the United States after marrying a U.S. Marine. She had no children. No one spoke on her behalf at Jones' sentencing.
"This was a case where our entire squad worked tirelessly on this because it was such a senseless act of violence," Dayton police Det. Becky Rasor said. "So we wanted to be in the courtroom to represent her today."
Dayton police Lt. Wendy Stiver said investigators had very little evidence in the hours immediately after Gangloff's body was discovered. Stiver said that Rasor pieced information together. "This case was solved quickly under the leadership of Det. Rasor," Stiver said. "She's an asset to the department."
Dankof said Jones' father also is in prison for murder. VanNoy wrote that Jones' father was a heroin addict and is serving 36 years in prison and that Jones' uncle also is serving a lengthy prison sentence.
VanNoy said Jones' neurologist said Jones has "major league" behavior problems and that "Robert was moved from one school to another, engaging in special educational classes" and that Jones had been home sch0oled since he was 9 years old.
Dankof acknowledged Jones' less-than-ideal upbringing and said only Jones knew if he was truly remorseful.
"We don't believe he has remorse — the way he was acting in court, how he talks in his jail phone calls, this was just such a senseless act," Rasor said. "(Gangloff) was a purely innocent victim — minding her own business, going to the bus stop to do her shopping. She did not deserve to be shot in the head and die in the street."
Ernest Ridgel, of Dayton, said he used to accompany Gangloff to markets, restaurants, parks and that she used to cook for him. They lived in the same apartment complex where Gangloff was a housekeeper.
"I'm glad some justice was served in that case," Ridgel said. "It helps heal the wounds that I was feeling about Take. I was sorry I wasn't with her when she passed away.
