WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
(MOUNT VERNON) After receiving the results of an extensive investigation by Ohio
BCI, Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville has concluded that no grand jury review
is necessary in a June incident that left two Butler Township residents dead. “The BCI
investigation found that the incident amounted to a murder-suicide,” McConville said.
When Knox County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the reported domestic
incident on Busenberg Road on June 5, they encountered Lloyd Ray, who fired shots at
them. Deputy William Cottrell returned fire, but his shots did not strike Ray. During the
confrontation, Ray fatally shot his girlfriend Lauretta Beltz with a .22 caliber rifle and
then fired additional shots at the deputies who had taken cover behind their vehicles
outside the home. Ray later took his own life with the .22 rifle.
In previous officer-involved shootings in Knox County in recent years, the cases
have been presented to the Grand Jury to decide whether the use of force was
reasonable, McConville said. However, in those cases, officers had fatally shot suspects
who were using deadly force against them or other persons. “Here, no injuries were
inflicted by Knox County deputies, thus no grand jury presentation is necessary.”
McConville added.
The BCI investigation was requested by Sheriff Daniel Weckesser on June 5, and
included agents from BCI’s Force Investigations Unit, Crime Scene Unit, Cyber Crime
Unit, and the BCI Laboratory.
“I appreciate the willingness of Attorney General Dave Yost to take on these
investigations and make resources available to Knox County,” McConville said. “These
investigations are always exhaustive in scope and unbiased in their presentation.”