18-Year-Old Ohio Teen Charged With Stabbing His Grandmother To Death For Her Welfare Checks

19 Action News reports: Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz announced Thursday that Clayton C. Phillips, 18, of Russell Township, was indicted by the Geauga County Grand Jury in a nine-count indictment relating to the homicide of his grandmother, Ruth Phillips, 81.

The murder occurred on January 21, 2014. 

Phillips was charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, tampering with evidence, possessing criminal tools, misuse of credit cards, and gross abuse of a corpse. The aggravated murder count carries a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

On January 21, 2014, Ruth Phillips was found stabbed to death in the basement of her Russell Township residence. 

Her body was discovered by officers after they received a request for a welfare check.

Clayton Phillips was apprehended by the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force in the early morning hours of January 22, 2014. 

He is currently incarcerated in the Geauga County Jail for violating probation from a previous case in the Chardon Municipal Court. 

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