Four robbers went on a three-day "joy killing" spree that left five people dead and four wounded, police said.
"Once they tasted blood they couldn't stop," Sgt. George Ham-mann said.Two adults and two juveniles were charged Monday with aggravated murder and robbery. They faced additional murder charges in court Tuesday.
Prosecutor Mathias Heck said he would seek the death penalty against Marvellous Keene, 19, and Heather Matthews, 20. He said he would seek to try Demarcus Smith, 17, and Laura Taylor, 16, as adults. That would mean they could get up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted. All four are from Dayton.
Authorities believe robbery was the original motive, but "we think it turned into joy killing," Ham-mann said.
Matthews was a truant, a chronic runaway and a high-school dropout. She was released early from the Ohio Reformatory for Women at Marysville after serving six months of a one-year sentence for receiving stolen property.
"I thought she'd changed. I really did," said her mother, Deb-bie.
She said her daughter was a follower.
"Like the old saying goes, if somebody jumped off a bridge, she'd do it, too," she said.
The spree began Thursday.