The case of

Shetisha Sheeley, Shirellda Helen Terry,  Deskins

Victim

Shetisha Sheeley, Shirellda Helen Terry,  Deskins

Victim Race

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Victim Date of Birth

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Victim Age
Date Reported

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Date of Death

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Case Status

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Incident Location

East Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA

Body Location

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Date of Conviction

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Body Discovered Date

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Murderer

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Who is Michael Madison?

Michael Madison was born on October 15th, 1977 to Diane Madison and John Baldwin, in East Cleveland, Ohio. There was no relationship between his parents, who had accidentally gotten pregnant with him. John Baldwin had never been a part of his son’s life and has since denied being his father at all.

Diane Madison was a young and inexperienced mother who struggled to care for her child. She grew up in a turbulent and neglectful home as well, with her mother being a heroin addict and prostitute and having been a victim of child rape.

Social workers were almost immediately involved with Diane Madison and Michael, who was frequently “punished” and “disciplined” by the string of men that Diane Madison brought to the house.

When Michael was two, it was discovered that Diane Maidson had forcefully stuffed food down Michael’s throat, making the small boy vomit uncontrollably. In response, Diane put the screaming boy into a tub of hot water. When he screamed more, she took him out of the tub and beat him with an extension cord.

When Michael was three, one of Diane’s boyfriends beat Michael with a belt so severely that he vomited again and had to be hospitalized. In another incident, Michael was beaten so badly by one of his mother’s boyfriends that he lost hearing in one ear.

Eventually, Michael was put into the care of his grandmother, who was a heroin addict and prostitute.

Over the years, Michael was hospitalized for various reasons, including dehydration. Social workers would note bruises and scratches on Michael and his half-brother.

Later, psychologists would point out his abuses as being the reason for his actions and the need to control his surroundings and the females in his life. Former girlfriends would say that Michael often spoke badly of women, saying that he “hates the female species.”

Michael had frequent run-ins with law enforcement and formed a habit of sexually abusing women early on. In high school, he had a delinquent charge for inappropriately touching a classmate. When he was older, he was convicted of a rape charge.

Brutal Murders

On July 19th, 2013, neighbors of Madison called the police about a stench coming from the garage near Madison’s second-floor apartment building. Police investigated and broke into the garage, where they found the source of the foul odor to be emanating from the decomposing body of a woman. The grounds were searched, including the backyard and vacant homes in the area, and the bodies of two more women were discovered. In Madison’s corner apartment, the police found further evidence of decomposition.

The Police issued a warrant for Madison and tracked him down to his mother’s home. There was a several-hour-long standoff between Madison and police before he finally surrendered and he was taken into custody.

Victims were Tortured and Put in Trash Bags

It’s believed that Michael’s first victim was 38-year-old Angela Deskins, who was reported missing by her family in July of 2013; Her body was the first identified. Because she occasionally went missing from time to time, she wasn’t reported as missing until July 1st, though and the last anyone had seen her was on June 7th. She was found wrapped in electrical cords with a belt around her neck.

The second body was identified as 28-year-old Shetisha Sheeley, mother of a 12-year-old daughter who had been living with extended family at the time. Shetisha had called her mother to let her know she’d be stopping by to borrow money, but then never showed, and was never seen again until her body was found. Shetisha Sheeley had been reported missing since September of 2012, and her body had been folded in half before being stuffed into black plastic garbage bags.

The third identified victim was young 18-year-old Shirellda Terry, who was returning from work at an Elementary school. Her body had been mutilated, and it’s suspected that Madison raped her before murdering her and putting her body in black trash bags.

All three women had signs of torture before they died, and all were mutilated after.

Michael Madison Laughed at Victim’s Emotional Father

During the court hearing. Michael Madison laughed, smiled, and taunted the families of his murder victims. He shows no remorse for the triple murders. During a victim impact statement, the father of young Shirella Helen Terry was set off by Madison’s taunting smile and attempted to attack him, but was quickly stopped. Madison smiled and laughed during the entirety of the emotional outburst.

Michael Madison was charged with all three counts of murders, as well as a count of rape, one count of weapons possession, one count of kidnapping, two counts of child endangerment, and one count of tampering with evidence.

Though the defense of Michael Madison tried to contend that Michael’s childhood abuse and the disturbing family tree had impacted his adult life so profoundly that he was incapable of taking the correct course in life, the Jury was unconvinced. On May 20, 2016, the Jury found him guilty on all charges and recommended the death penalty.

The Judge, who had never given the Death Penalty before, did so in this case. On reading her judgment, she said that Michael O’Malley Madison’s crimes were so vile and demonstrated such a lack of value for human life that he deserved to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

On July 21, 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court voted to uphold Michael Madison’s death sentence after he attempted to call into question on the jury selection. Madison claimed that several of the jurors were biased toward the death penalty vs. life sentence. The Court ruled that the was substantial evidence in his murder case, while the was insufficient evidence to conclude that any of the jurors were biased. Michael Madson remains on death row to this day.

Michael Madison’s Mother is Murdered

Michael Madison’s mother was later stabbed to death by her grandson, 18-year-old Jalen Plummer. Jalen was charged with one count of aggravated murder and attempted murder and received a life sentence for this murder. Serial Killer and son Michael Madison would later say that he had “mixed feelings” about the murder of his mother.

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