Afternoon catchup: 5 Butler County stories you need to know today

Anita Scott Jones has been involved with the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk for years. She has since had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device placed inside her to help with her heart problems. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Anita Scott Jones has been involved with the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk for years. She has since had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device placed inside her to help with her heart problems. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Here’s a look at five big Butler County stories today to catch up on the news:


Anita Scott Jones, a beloved champion of Middletown, dies at 58

Anita Scott Jones has been involved with the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk for years. She has since had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device placed inside her to help with her heart problems. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

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Anita Scott Jones wasn’t born in Middletown, but she made the city a better place, those who knew her said.

Scott Jones, who championed the city of Middletown as a council member and vice mayor and was passionate about her Christian faith, died on Sunday. She was 58.

“This is a huge loss,” said the Rev. Lamar Ferrell, pastor at Berachah Church, where Scott Jones and her husband, Lyndon Jones, worshiped. “When she got transplanted here from Alabama, Middletown gained an incredible ambassador of hope.”

Scott Jones moved to Middletown in 2000. Several years after moving to the city, she ran for City Council. When she won in 2007, she was the first directly elected Black woman to serve on City Council, and she served as vice mayor in 2009 and 2010.

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Hamilton chiropractor facing 26 sex-related charges indicted again for new alleged crimes

Hamilton chiropractor Dr. Stephen Boyd was arraigned Friday in Butler County Common Pleas Court. He is charged with 26 felony sex-related crimes. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

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Hamilton chiropractor Dr. Stephen Boyd, who is facing 26 sex-related charges, has been indicted on new felony charges.

Boyd, who is free on bond, was arrested Dec. 9 after a grand jury returned the indictment against him for allegedly inappropriately touching patients and engaging in misconduct. Boyd has also been the subject of an investigation by the Ohio State Chiropractic Board.

The indictment accuses the 57-year-old of committing sex-related crimes for decades. According to prosecutors, the original indictment involves crimes against eight victims who were juveniles and young adults in their late teens at the time of the alleged crimes. The alleged crime occurred between November 1998 and December 2014.

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Business improving ‘slow and steady’ at new Monroe barbecue restaurant

Prince Ahmed delivers a pulled pork sandwich and French fries at Prime BBQ Smokehouse in Monroe. RICK McCRABB/STAFF

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When Sam Jabro and two of his cousins stopped into a Monroe restaurant that was closing, they were interested in buying the equipment and one day opening their own business.

But the owner convinced Jabo and his cousins, Eddie and Wally Yasso, to buy everything inside the restaurant.

That was the beginning of Prime BBQ Smokehouse on American Way that opened during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and has seen a “slow and steady” increase in business, Jabro said.

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Trial won’t happen in May for boyfriend of Middletown woman accused of killing 6-year-old son

This March 8, 2021 photo shows James Hamilton during a Bond hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court in Hamilton, Ohio. Hamilton is charged with multiple counts in connection to the disposal of the body of his girlfriend's 6-year-old son James Hutchinson. (Nick Graham/Dayton Daily News via AP)

Credit: Nick Graham

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Credit: Nick Graham

There will be no May trial for a Middletown man charged with disposing the body of his girlfriend’s 6-year-old son and hog-tying the boy and his siblings.

James Hamilton, 43, was indicted March 5 along with Brittany Gosney, 29, on a combined 31-count indictment for the slaying of 6-year-old James Hutchinson on Feb. 26 in rural Preble County and the disposal of his body days later in the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Ind.

Gosney and Hamilton are facing felony crimes against all three children, including murder, involuntary manslaughter, gross abuse of a corpse and endangering children for Gosney and kidnapping, gross abuse of a corpse, kidnapping and endangering children for Hamilton.

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Middletown man accused of killing woman and hiding her in barrel changes plea to some charges

Attorney David Brewer, left, talks with William Slaton during a hearing Thursday in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Slaton is charged with murder and tampering with evidence for allegedly killing a woman and putting her body n a metal drum. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

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A Middletown man is still scheduled to go to trial next month for allegedly killing a woman then hiding her body in a metal drum, but he changed his plea to the crimes that happened after her death.

William Slaton, 35, was arrested June 30 after Middletown police discovered 21-year-old Cecily Cornett’s body in a barrel at his home in the 3200 block of Yankee Road. His is charged with murder, felonious assault, four counts of tampering with evidence, involuntary manslaughter, three counts of gross abuse of a corpse and assault.

Slaton was in Butler County Common Pleas Court on Thursday afternoon, and he pleaded no contest to all the tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse charges, all felonies.

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AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...

How to sign up: Large COVID-19 vaccine clinic coming Thursday to Hamilton Meijer

The Butler County General Health District held a drive through COVID-19 vaccination clinic Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at Butler County Fairgrounds in Hamilton. Nearly 75 workers and volunteers administered 1500 vaccines during the event.  NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

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Credit: Nick Graham

A large COVID-19 vaccination clinic is Thursday at the Meijer Pharmacy in Hamilton.

The pharmacy will be administering the Pfizer two-dose vaccine for free to anyone 16 and older.

The clinic is from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Meijer store at 1560 Main St. in Hamilton.

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