Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell dies from terminal illness at 61

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell died at 3:27 p.m. on Monday, according to Ohio Correctional Institution spokesperson JoEllen Smith.

Smith said he was admitted to the end of life care unit at the Franklin Medical Center for a terminal illness, and his death was not COVID-19 related.

Anthony Sowell was on death row at Ohio’s Chillicothe Correctional Institute and continued to push the appeal process of his death sentence before he died.

Florence Bray’s daughter Crystal Dozier was one of Sowell’s 11 victims, and Bray had been outspoken in her disappointment that Sowell had not yet been executed for his crimes.

His death provided some relief, but she remains grieving and angry that he was able to work the judicial system for as long as he did.

“All these years he’s been living, and my child has turned to dust,” Bray said, “So I can’t say I am sad that he’s dead.”

The first of Sowell’s 11 decomposing female victims were found on Oct. 29, 2009, at his home on Imperial Avenue.

Police found ten more women decaying on his property after excavating the home.

In total, Sowell was convicted of 81 counts of crimes that happened between June 2007 and Sept. 2009, including aggravated murder and kidnapping.

The families of Sowell’s victims will all have their unique reactions to his death; Bray called him pure evil and said if she could, she would turn somersaults and cartwheels right down the street.

She also hoped it meant something for her daughter.

“I hope she can, I hope she can rest in peace now,” Bray said.

A lawsuit previously settled against the City of Cleveland alleged that the police department’s sex crimes unit failed to thoroughly investigate missing persons reports filed by the families of the victims.

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