Carroll and his wife, Liz, reported the toddler missing from Juilfs Park in Anderson Twp. in August 2006. Thousands of people helped search for the boy.
But the Carrolls’ tale of fiction fell apart two weeks later when they were indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury. What actually happened, based on police investigation and trial testimony, is the Carrolls and their children and foster children, live-in girlfriend Amy Baker, and the family dog went to a family reunion in Kentucky for three days in August. Before they left, they bound Marcus in a blanket with duct tape and stuck him in a play pen inside an upstairs closet.
When they returned and found the child dead, the couple and Baker burned Fiesel’s body and threw his remains in the Ohio River. A jury convicted Liz Carroll of murder, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and endangering children. She will not be eligible for parole until 2060, but her husband, who took a plea deal, is eligible this year.
Baker’s charges were dismissed due to her cooperation in the investigation and testimony the led to the convictions of the Carrolls. Baker, who now goes by Amy Ramsey, was sentenced to two years in prison in July 2010 in Clermont County after selling prescription pills to a police informant that March.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said the details of Fiesel’s death are not enough to keep Carroll from walking out of prison. Instead, he said the community’s opinion is more powerful.
“I know folks in this community that looked for him that are still upset about the murder of little Marcus,” Deters said. “And hopefully, the public will respond in such a massive effort to stop this from happening because that’s what the parole board listens to.”
Deters said his office has received hundreds of letters from the public, forwarding them to the parole board. He said the board will review Carroll’s prison records and then he and Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve will get word about the next hearing.
“I don’t want people in the public to think, oh, you know, there’s no way David Carroll gets out of jail,” Deters said. “Well, they’re wrong. There is a very, there is a very clear path to him getting out of jail — and the only thing that’s gonna stop it is public outrage.”
Anyone who wants to submit a written statement concerning this hearing can send it to the Ohio Parole Board, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 4545 Fisher Road, Suite D, Columbus, OH 43228. Include the offender’s name and number on any correspondence.
David Joseph Carroll’s inmate number is No. A546573. You can also click here.
Journal-News Staff Writer Michael Pitman contributed to this story.
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