KETTERING — After nearly 25 years, the family of Shannon Anderson got justice.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“Twenty-four years is a very long time to walk free, so I’m just glad that justice has finally been served,” Alexandrea McCulley, Anderson’s daughter, said.
McCulley is relieved her mother’s cold case is over.
A Montgomery County judge sentenced Jonathan “Eric” Link to 15 years to life behind bars for the murder of Shannon Anderson.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Red Cross assisting after fire damages 3 homes in Dayton neighborhood
- Driver seriously injured after crash involving Amazon van in Clark County
- Ohio judge accused of filing fraudulent journal entry
He walked free for more than 20 years until his arrest in January 2025.
“Twenty-four years ago, he didn’t have as much to lose. Now he has a lot more to lose, and now he will be in prison,” McCulley said.
Loved ones of Anderson spoke out in the courtroom, sharing how difficult the last 24 years have been without justice.
“She’ll never know the accomplishments I’ve made in my life because of Eric,” McCulley said.
Link also spoke and urged the judge for leniency on his sentence.
“I will always have a place in my heart for Shannon,” he said.
McCulley didn’t have sympathy for Link.
“I was home when this crime occurred. I know he did this, and he can claim innocence all he wants,” she said. " I was witness to him cleaning up the crime scene. I don’t care what he has to say."
She said if her mother were here, she would be proud of the woman she has become.
“I hope that I am about to be half the woman that she was. She was loud and courageous and fiery. I try to live up to that as much as possible,” McCulley said.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]