A former inmate at the Ohio Reformatory for Women is under indictment after allegedly plotting to kill a local guard.
Sonya Hawkins, 44, who is currently an inmate at Dayton Correctional Institution, has been charged with one count each of attempted aggravated murder and possession of a deadly weapon while under detention.
According to court documents, on Dec. 21, 2018, Hawkins was an inmate at Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Several inmates reported to corrections officers that she had a homemade weapon.
When officials went through the woman’s cell, they found what was described as “a pen with razor blade.”
It was learned Hawkins was planning to kill one of the corrections officers, though officials have not said why.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips said that while Hawkins never made a physical attempt to kill the corrections officer, “the attempt is this, that she had a plan and when she formed a plan and then had the pen with the razor blade, she took a step to carry out that plan, and that’s enough.”
“Sometimes these investigations take a while,” Phillips said. He explained that sometimes witnesses do not want to get involved.
“Nobody wants to be known as a snitch in the institution, but you have to protect yourself,” he said.
The prosecutor added that oftentimes witnesses can get moved or released.
If convicted on both charges, Hawkins could face as many as 20 additional years in prison. Phillips said that for inmates like Hawkins, additional prison time can be very little deterrent.
Hawkins is already serving a 15-years to life sentence for two counts each of complicity to murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and obstruction of justice, along with one count of arson and one count of theft.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 1994, Hawkins was part of a group that shot two 16-year-old girls in an apparent gang initiation. Hawkins was the neighbor of the other two involved, both juveniles at the time of the murders, at a rural Fairfield County home. One of the victims died immediately after being shot, the other did not. The individuals put the living girl in the trunk of a car, then moved the body to an abandoned barn on another property about a mile and a half away. According to court documents, Hawkins and another man apparently stabbed the girl then later dropped a cement block on her head to finally kill her. The other body was also moved to the barn.
When investigators got close to finding the bodies, Hawkins, along with the two boys and the mother of one of the boys, set fire to the barn and the bodies.
A passing newspaper carrier noticed the fire and alerted authorities, who found the bodies.
Hawkins was implicated after her mother and stepfather reported several guns, including one the same caliber as the murder weapon, missing.
When questioned by investigators, Hawkins made statements linking her, the two boys, and the mother to the crime.