Hearing for man convicted of killing Twinsburg police officer

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - There will be a hearing Wednesday in Summit County Court of Common Pleas for convicted cop killer Ashford Thompson.

He was sentenced to death in 2010 for the fatal shooting of Twinsburg Police Officer Joshua Miktarian in July 2008.

Thompson will appear virtually at Wednesday’s hearing. The hearing is expected to start Wednesday, last all day Thursday, and resume Monday, Nov. 9.

The Ohio Public Defender claims Thompson had a mental defect at the time of the shooting and wants to have the death penalty removed from his sentence.

Officer Miktarian, 33, died after he was shot in the head four times while making a traffic stop at Route 91 and Glenwood on July 13, 2008.

Every year on the anniversary of his death, police officers from across Northeast Ohio gather at the intersection to remember Officer Miktarian.

He is the only Twinsburg police officer to die in the line of duty.