Eric Joering and Anthony "Tony" Morelli were police officers who were murdered on February 10, 2018, in Westerville, Ohio after responding to a domestic violence incident. Joering, 39, and Morelli, 54, were shot and killed by Quentin Smith, who had punched and choked his wife, leading to her making a 9-1-1 hangup call. When the police officers arrived, Smith shot Joering three times in both of his arms and in his head. Morelli was shot once in the chest with the bullet going through his heart and lungs.
Joering, who had been a police officer for 16 years in Westerville, died at the scene, while Morelli, who had been a police officer for 30 years, died later in the hospital. Smith, who was 30 at the time and who was prohibited from having a gun, was shot five times but survived.
Smith had an extensive criminal history involving burglary, intimidation, aggravated menacing, domestic violence, and felonious assault. He was tried in October 2019, and convicted for the murders on November 1, 2019. For perhaps the first time in Ohio, family members of the victims gave victim impact statements to the jury during the sentencing phase of a capital case. The jury recommended that Smith be sentenced to life in prison although some members of the jury reported that their fellow jurors refused to consider the death penalty.
The murders garnered a significant response, with both Governor John Kasich and President Donald Trump commenting on them. Both victims have been remembered in several ways, including by having part of a highway named after them, and by having their cruiser doors displayed in Washington D.C. as part of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial for National Police Week.
Victims
Eric Joering
Eric Joering (August 6, 1978 – February 10, 2018) was a Westerville Police Officer for 16 years at the time of his death. He graduated from Westerville South High School in 1997 and went on to attend the Columbus State Community College Police Program. He spent his 16 years with the Westerville Police Department working as a patrol officer, a detective, and as a K-9 officer with his dog partner Sam. He was married and had three daughters, Ella Elena and Eva.
Anthony Morelli
Anthony Morelli was born on February 7, 1964, in Honolulu, Hawaii and was raised in Massillon, Ohio. He attended Washington High School, Kent State University, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol Officers Academy. Morelli worked for the Fairlawn Police Department for one year and the Westerville Police Department for 29 years. He was married in 1989 and had a daughter and a son. His grandchild was born after his death.
Perpetrator
At the time of the murders, Quentin Smith (born February 23, 1987) was staying at a townhouse in Westerville, Ohio, where his wife Candace and their daughter lived. The Smiths had been separated for about a year and he was living with his mother in Cleveland but had come back to Westerville for a visit. Smith had married Candace in February 2014 and was abusive to her. Along with domestic violence, his arrest records, and convictions show a criminal history that involved burglary, motor vehicle theft, carrying a concealed weapon, intimation, aggravated menacing, simple assault, and felonious assault. Smith's defense lawyers said he has an IQ of 85 and had experienced mental illness and verbal abuse.
Previous arrests and charges
In August 2007, in Euclid, Ohio, Smith's mother told police that Smith stabbed her boyfriend. According to Smith's mother, her boyfriend had tried to prevent Smith from taking her car after she kicked him out of the house. Smith's mother told police that Smith pointed a pellet gun at her boyfriend which her boyfriend knocked away. His mother's boyfriend told police this as well. Smith then allegedly pulled a three and a half inch knife and stabbed his mother's boyfriend in his left side and right hand. Smith, who told police that he was defending himself, was charged with two counts of felonious assault, one count of aggravated menacing and one count of theft of a motor vehicle by a Grand Jury, but those charges were dropped after the alleged victim did not appear in court to testify.>