Man who killed teen to protect lawn kills self

LEBANON, Ohio (Map, News) – A man from Clermont County’s Union Township, who admitted to shooting and killing a teenager with a shotgun who refused to heed his warnings to stay off his lawn, has committed suicide in an Ohio prison.  The 15-year-old victim, Larry Mugrage Jr. was shot by 69-year-old Charles Martin in March 2006.  He was indicted for Aggravated Murder, but the jury in the

Clermont County Common Pleas Court

found him guilty on a lesser charge of murder.  He had originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but jurors rejected that argument.
     Martin, who received a 15-year to life sentence, plus a 3-year gun specification, killed himself at the Lebanon Correctional Institution just outside of Lebanon, Ohio.  The sentence, essentially resulted in a life sentence for Martin, because his first parole hearing would have occurred when Martin was 85-years-old. 
    Prison officials are not saying exactly how Martin died.  Martin was known in his UnionTownship neighborhood for having a very well-kept lawn, of which he was proud and apparently protective.  Martin apologized for the shooting, but said the teenager provoked him.
     In 2008, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 6 inmates committed suicide in Ohio jails.  That number has remained fairly steady over the last 3-years.  Ohio housed 50,371 prisoners last year.  The most common method of suicide in Ohio prisons is by hanging.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.