State v. Conkey

2026 Ohio 547
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 10, 2026
Docket25CA2
StatusPublished

This text of 2026 Ohio 547 (State v. Conkey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Conkey, 2026 Ohio 547 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Conkey, 2026-Ohio-547.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT GALLIA COUNTY

State of Ohio, : Case No. 25CA2

Plaintiff-Appellee, : DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY v. :

Gabriel L. Conkey, : RELEASED 2/10/2026

Defendant-Appellant. :

______________________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES:

Christopher Pagan, Repper-Pagan Law, Ltd., Middletown, Ohio, for appellant.

Jason Holdren, Gallia County Prosecutor, and Isaac Beller, Gallia County Assistant Prosecutor, Gallipolis, Ohio, for appellee. ______________________________________________________________________ Hess, J.

{¶1} Gabriel L. Conkey appeals from a judgment of the Gallia County Common

Pleas Court, General Division, convicting him of murder. He presents two assignments of

error asserting that (1) the juvenile court which bound him over to adult court erred by

disregarding his procedural protections at the bindover hearing, and (2) the restitution

sanction imposed by the trial court was clearly contrary to law. For the reasons which

follow, we overrule the first assignment of error and sustain the second assignment of

error. We vacate the restitution order and remand for the trial court to determine the

proper amount of restitution after a hearing as required by R.C. 2929.18(A)(1). We affirm

the trial court’s judgment in all other respects. Gallia App. No. 25CA2 2

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

{¶2} On August 9, 2024, a complaint was filed in juvenile court alleging that

Conkey, age 17, appeared to be a delinquent child for committing an offense which would

be murder with a firearm specification if committed by an adult. The complaint identified

Conkey’s mother, stated that he was currently in her care and custody, and indicated they

lived in Patriot, Ohio. The complaint did not mention Conkey’s father. The day the

complaint was filed, Conkey signed an affidavit of indigency form which indicated that he

lived with his mother and stepdad, who were identified by name, in Scottown, Ohio. Also

that day, a juvenile demographic information form was filed which indicated Conkey was

in the custody of his mother only and that they lived in Scottown. In the place for his

father’s information, a name is listed, along with markings which possibly suggest he also

lived at that address. But the person named is the one identified as Conkey’s stepdad in

the affidavit of indigency form.

{¶3} On August 12, 2024, a second complaint was filed in juvenile court alleging

that Conkey appeared to be a delinquent child for committing an offense which would be

tampering with evidence if committed by an adult. The second complaint contained the

same information about Conkey’s mother as the first complaint. The same day, the State

filed a motion in both cases asking the juvenile court to transfer jurisdiction to the general

division of the common pleas court for prosecution of Conkey as an adult.

{¶4} On August 14, 2024, the juvenile court issued entries setting the cases for

a probable cause hearing on August 21, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. The proof of service for the

entries indicates they were served on Conkey’s mother in Scottown by regular mail on Gallia App. No. 25CA2 3

August 15, 2024.1 Conkey’s mother appeared at the scheduled hearing. The juvenile

court found Conkey was 17 at the time of the conduct charged, that there was probable

cause to believe he committed the acts alleged in the complaints, which would be crimes

if committed by an adult, and that there was probable cause to believe he had a firearm

on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense of murder.

Therefore, the juvenile court transferred the cases to the general division of the common

pleas court for prosecution of Conkey as an adult.

{¶5} On September 11, 2024, an indictment was filed charging Conkey with

murder with a firearm specification and tampering with evidence. At a pretrial hearing, an

unnamed male appeared, and Conkey and the male indicated the male was Conkey’s

father. On December 30, 2024, Conkey entered a guilty plea to the murder count. The

parties agreed to jointly recommend a prison sentence of 15 years to life, and the State

agreed to move to dismiss the firearm specification and tampering count at sentencing.

{¶6} At the sentencing hearing, Conkey’s mother appeared and stated that she

lived in Scottown. The decedent’s grandmother (who was also his adoptive mother) and

sister appeared by Zoom; they were not sworn in during the hearing. The prosecution

read aloud an email from the grandmother, who wrote in part that she had to pay for the

decedent’s “funeral expenses and soon his tombstone” herself, that the funeral was

$3,632.28, and that the tombstone “is around” $1,200.

1 The day was handwritten on each entry. The State evidently reads the handwriting as stating service

occurred on the “1st," asserts that this is a mistake, and claims “the record establishes that the notice was filed and served by regular mail on August 14.” The State does not direct us to anything in the record showing service occurred on August 14th, and we interpret the handwriting as referring to August 15th, though the author omitted the “h.” Such a reading is consistent with the date the entry was issued and the fact that in other documents signed by the same deputy clerk who signed each proof of service, the day the “9th" is written without an “h.” Gallia App. No. 25CA2 4

{¶7} The court sentenced Conkey to a mandatory minimum term of 15 years and

a maximum term of life in prison. The court asked if the grandmother was requesting

restitution. The prosecution stated “it may be worth inquiring” about and noted she had

sought reimbursement from a victims of crime program. The grandmother indicated no

one had gotten back to her. The prosecution asked about the amount for the tombstone,

and the sister stated, “They didn’t give us an exact number.” The grandmother said,

“They said between, I could get a cheaper one, but the one I was looking at was from

$1,000.00 to $1,200.00 so someone [sic] between there, $1,100.00.” The prosecution

said, “So because that’s still in the process would it be fine to ask for $1,000.00 there and

then the $3,632.28 for the funeral expense?” and the grandmother said, “Yes sir.”

Defense counsel stated that “this is the first I’m obviously hearing of restitution” and that

counsel was “not in a position right now to acquiesce about potential restitution when it

seems as though we’re talking about estimates and things that have not yet, it sounds

like been disbursed um, or paid out. Um, so I, I guess I formally would just object to that

at this point.” The prosecution told the court it had “no opposition to try and get

documentation of that, give that to [defense counsel] and then both parties just submit

something later.” The court could then “make a ruling without a full hearing since we’ve

taken a little bit of testimony today.”

{¶8} The court stated, “Right now I see as um, [the grandmother] has, has

testified um, forty six uh, $4,632.28 uh, from the burial expenses and the um, tombstone.

And so um, I don’t, what I’m going to do is go ahead and find that subject to any type of

reimbursement. I’m going to let the State and you talk about that with the victim and if it

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2026 Ohio 547, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-conkey-ohioctapp-2026.