Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Zanesville Woman Imprisoned for Strangling Child
Sabrina L. Gary, age 52, appeared in Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas on June 17 for sentencing.
Common Pleas judge Mark C. Fleegle sentenced Gary to two and a half years in prison for her crime of felony strangulation.
On June 3, her co-defendant, Jeremy M. Murray, Jr., was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his crimes of child endangering, which created a substantial risk to the health and safety of two children in the home, one of which suffered serious physical harm.
Murray, Jr., the children’s biological father, lived with Gary and her husband, James Murray, Sr. Gary and Murray had legal custody of the children, due to Murray Jr.’s drug use.
On December 27, 2023, Gary visited Muskingum County Adult and Child Protective Services (MCACPS), seeking to surrender custody of one of the minor children in the home.
When social workers visited the home on the next day, Gary told the caseworkers that she had beaten one of the victims the previous night, adding “are you going to take her with you now?”
MCACPS workers interviewed the victim, confirming that she had been assaulted by both Gary and Murray Jr. The child was later seen at the Muskingum County Children's Justice Center and disclosed to a forensic interviewer and nurse that Gary had grabbed her by the throat and pushed her into the wall, and that she felt like she was going to pass out.
Muskingum County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Welch says those who abuse children in Muskingum County will face consequences.
“Children deserve to be protected by their parents and those who are supposed to care for them,” Prosecutor Welch said. “The defendants in this case actively abused a child as a means of punishment, and now will have time in prison as a consequence.”
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