Ohio man ‘looking to kill a cop’ charged with murder

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — A man whose ex-girlfriend told police he left her house “looking to kill a cop” was charged Monday in the January death of an Ohio officer who was shot in the head, and the suspect could face the death penalty if convicted.

A Knox County grand jury indicted Herschel Ray Jones III on 10 counts, half of them linked to the slaying of 34-year-old Officer Thomas Cottrell in Danville. His body was found behind the village’s municipal building late Jan. 17, shortly after Jones’ ex-girlfriend warned police that he was armed and might be targeting an officer.

Prosecutor Chip McConville said Jones apparently will be represented by a public defender, who didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment. McConville said he anticipates the defense will request that Jones undergo a mental competency evaluation.

McConville declined to discuss what communication investigators have had with Jones or a possible motive for the shooting.

“I don’t know, and I’m not going to speculate,” he said.

Besides aggravated murder, Jones also is charged with misdemeanor assault of his ex-girlfriend and aggravated burglary, kidnapping and grand theft from a home about two months before the shooting. Investigators say Cottrell was shot with a pistol stolen in that November burglary, which involved a masked intruder who restrained a victim with tape.

Jones allegedly took Cottrell’s firearm and police cruiser and some of his clothing, which investigators believe was burned. Jones, 32, was spotted running from a home after the shooting and was arrested after a short foot chase, police said.