State v. Cunigan

[Cite as State v. Cunigan, 2026-Ohio-3887.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY STATE OF OHIO : : C.A. No. 30608 Appellee : : Trial Court Case No. 2024 CR 01548 v. : : (Criminal Appeal from Common Pleas NICOLE CUNIGAN JR. : Court) : Appellant : FINAL JUDGMENT ENTRY & : OPINION ........... Pursuant to the opinion of this court rendered on October 2, 2026, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion. Costs to be paid as follows: 50% by the appellant and 50% by the appellee. Pursuant to Ohio App.R. 30(A), the clerk of the court of appeals shall immediately send a copy of the court’s ruling to each party and note that action on the docket. Additionally, pursuant to App.R. 27, the clerk of the court of appeals shall send a certified copy of this judgment, which constitutes a mandate, to the clerk of the trial court and note the service on the appellate docket. For the court, RONALD C. LEWIS, PRESIDING JUDGE TUCKER, J., and HANSEMAN, J., concur.  OPINION MONTGOMERY C.A. No. 30608 DAVID R. MILES, Attorney for Appellant ANDREW T. FRENCH, Attorney for Appellee LEWIS, P.J. {¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Nicole Cunigan Jr. appeals from his convictions in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for murder and related offenses following a trial. For the following reasons, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the cause is remanded to the trial court for the purposes of advising Cunigan of the requirements in R.C. 2903.42(A)(1)(a) and resentencing him. I. Facts and Course of Proceedings {¶ 2} On August 1, 2024, Cunigan was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on two counts of purposeful murder, two counts of murder (proximate result), one count of felonious assault (serious physical harm), one count of felonious assault (deadly weapon), one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of domestic violence (knowingly – 1 prior), one count of domestic violence (pregnant victim), one count of tampering with evidence, one count of having weapons while under a disability, and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle. The counts of murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter, domestic violence, and having weapons while under a disability all included three-year firearm specifications in accordance with R.C. 2941.145. The counts of murder, felonious assault, and involuntary manslaughter all included repeat violent offender (“RVO”) specifications in accordance with R.C. 2941.149. The charges arose from a shooting on May 22, 2024, during which D.J., P.T., and P.T.’s unborn child were killed inside P.T.’s home on Shaftesbury Road in Dayton, Ohio. 2  {¶ 3} On July 2, 2025, pursuant to Crim.R. 12.2, Cunigan filed a notice of self- defense. In response, the State filed a notice of intent to offer certain evidence at trial, some of which included parole officer testimony to disprove Cunigan’s claim of self-defense. Defense counsel filed a response in opposition to the State’s notice and filed proposed jury instructions requesting a self-defense instruction. Following a hearing, the trial court preliminarily ruled that the State would be permitted to introduce testimony of Cunigan’s parole officers in its case-in-chief at trial. {¶ 4} Cunigan waived his right to a jury trial on the charges of domestic violence (knowingly - 1 prior) and having weapons while under a disability, along with their attendant three-year firearm specifications. The remaining counts and specifications were tried to the jury. The following is a summary of the testimony and evidence presented at trial. {¶ 5} On the morning of May 22, 2024, Dayton police officers responded to a 911 call reporting a shooting on Shaftesbury Road. At 6:32 a.m. officers forced entry into the one- and-a-half story single family home. Officers entered the unlocked front door and observed Jawuan Washington inside the house near the kitchen. Washington was removed from the home, and the officers conducted a protective sweep to search for the possible shooter and any victims. P.T.’s three-year-old twins were found in the first-floor rear bedroom and a deceased woman, later identified as P.T., was discovered at the bottom of the basement stairs. Washington, the 911 caller, informed police that there was another person inside the house. During a secondary sweep, officers uncovered the body of a deceased male, later identified as D.J., in the first-floor front bedroom laying on the bed under the covers. There was a hole in the comforter and D.J. was holding a firearm, which was removed from his hand. The firearm was a loaded TEC-9 9 mm handgun. A window in the bedroom was open, and the lower window had been pushed in. 3  {¶ 6} In the front bedroom, a .45 caliber fired cartridge casing was recovered from the floor below the open window, and two .45 caliber fired cartridge casings were recovered on the bed where D.J. had been found. Two additional .45 caliber fired cartridge casings were recovered from the kitchen. Another .45 caliber fired cartridge casing was found in the basement for a total of six fired .45 caliber casings. All six fired cartridge casings were later determined to have been fired from the same gun. No spent 9 mm cartridge casings were recovered from the scene. Testimony noted that .45 caliber bullets could not be fired from a 9 mm handgun (the type found with the decedent D.J.) due to the difference in the diameter of the bullets. A piece of orange hair, consistent with P.T.’s hair, was found on the floor in the kitchen. Suspected blood was found on the living room wall, the kitchen floor and cabinets, and on the walls and stairs leading to the basement. {¶ 7} Washington testified that she was friends with P.T. and P.T.’s family who lived at Summit Square Apartments. Washington was familiar with Cunigan, a.k.a. “Nico,” through P.T. and knew Cunigan shared three children with P.T., including twins. Washington was D.J.’s godmother. {¶ 8} P.T. owned a white Chevrolet Malibu. On May 20, 2024, Washington was with P.T. at Summit Square Apartments when P.T. handed the car keys to the Malibu to Cunigan. At that time, Cunigan’s hair was styled in long dreads that were orange at the bottom and retwisted. {¶ 9} On the evening of May 21, 2024, P.T. asked Washington to come over. Washington and D.J. got a ride to P.T.’s house and arrived just after 10:00 p.m. Only P.T. and the twins were home when they arrived. Washington, D.J., and P.T. talked on the couch in the living room at the front of the house. During that time, Cunigan texted and called P.T. numerous times. P.T. pleaded with Cunigan to return her car, but he did not 4 return her car that night. P.T., D.J., and Washington smoked some marijuana and then Washington went to sleep on the couch in the living room around 11:30 p.m. P.T. and D.J. were still awake when Washington went to sleep. {¶ 10} Around 5:57 a.m., Washington awoke and heard Cunigan’s voice coming from P.T.’s bedroom. Washington heard P.T. ask Cunigan where her car was and Cunigan responded that he would get her car. Cunigan asked P.T. not to “police” him, meaning not to call the police on him. Washington did not hear D.J.’s voice even though he was also in P.T.’s bedroom. Washington saw Cunigan walk out of P.T.’s bedroom, which was the first- floor front bedroom, and then saw him walk out the front door. Cunigan was wearing all black, and he had his hair in the same style of dreads with orange coloring at the bottom that she had seen him wear two days prior. P.T. followed Cunigan outside but returned alone and locked the front door. After Cunigan left, Washington, P.T., and D.J. talked in the living room for a few minutes. P.T. said that Cunigan had entered the house through the window in her bedroom. Washington knew D.J. to carry a gun, but she did not see a gun while they were in the living room. Around 6:09 a.m., P.T. and D.J. returned to P.T.’s bedroom and Washington stayed on the couch in the living room. {¶ 11} Shortly thereafter, Washington heard the window in P.T.’s bedroom come down and make a loud boom. Washington heard P.T. say, “Nico, why the f * * * do you keep doing that to my f * * * ing window?” Cunigan replied, “My bad, I didn’t mean to do that to the window.” Washington then heard three gunshots and P.T. scream, so Washington ran to the basement and hid under the stairs. Washington did not hear D.J. say anything and she did not see anyone in the house when she ran to hide in the basement. The basement stairs had open treads so that while Washington was hiding behind them, she could see through the stairs. While in the basement, Washington heard P.T., who had 5 run to the kitchen, beg for her life and yell, “Please, Nico. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please. No. I’m sorry. Please. No.” Washington testified that the more P.T. pleaded, the more she was shot. Washington knew that one shot was fired in the kitchen because she heard P.T. slip and fall. P.T. then came down the basement stairs with her head turned back up toward the kitchen, and she was shot one final time in the head. P.T. tumbled down the remaining steps to the basement floor, where she was found by police. In total, Washington heard six or seven gunshots. {¶ 12} After P.T. fell to the basement floor, Washington saw someone take a couple steps down the stairs; the person was wearing black Air Force One Supremes that had a red Supreme logo on the side and black and white shoestrings. The shooter did not come all the way down the steps but stopped and returned upstairs. Washington did not see the shooter’s face but recognized the shoes as consistent with ones that she had previously seen Cunigan wearing. {¶ 13} Washington attempted to call 911 twice at 6:17 a.m. but did not know where she was, so she looked up P.T.’s address on her phone. When Washington called 911 the third time at 6:20:03 a.m., she whispered to the dispatcher because she did not know if the shooter was still in the house. Once she heard the police sirens and the officers yell “police,” she came upstairs from the basement and immediately told them that “Nico” was the shooter. After she was outside, Washington told police that D.J. was still inside the house, and then she helped get P.T.’s twins out of the home. She later learned from police that D.J. had died. {¶ 14} Dayton Homicide Detective Zach Williams responded to the shooting on Shaftesbury Road. Detective Williams located surveillance cameras secured on the house of one of P.T.’s neighbors. The neighbor had four cameras on the exterior of her home that 6 captured video from each side of her house, one of which was pointed at P.T.’s bedroom window that had been forced open. The neighbor provided police access to her surveillance system, which was a motion-based DVR recording system, not a continuous recording system. Although the surveillance video was in color, it did not have audio. {¶ 15} The surveillance video reflected that at 5:45 a.m., a white sedan, not P.T.’s Malibu, drove down Shaftesbury Road past P.T.’s house, turned around, and parked on the opposite side of the street from P.T.’s house. Shortly after the car stopped, a man approached P.T.’s bedroom window. The video depicted a black male wearing a black t- shirt, dark grey and black pants, and black shoes. He had long dreadlocks colored orange at the bottom. The man opened the window from the outside and appeared to have a conversation with the home’s occupants. He climbed through the window and entered the house at 5:53 a.m. Shortly thereafter, P.T. came outside to her front lawn with a phone in her hand. The white car drove off at 5:57 a.m. {¶ 16} At 6:15 a.m., P.T.’s Malibu backed into P.T.’s driveway, and the driver got out. The driver was the same black male with orange-colored dreads who had been at the house a few minutes earlier. He returned to P.T.’s bedroom window, carrying a semiautomatic pistol on the right side of his pants. P.T.’s bedroom window was pushed in, and he appeared to speak briefly with the occupants before firing the gun into the house. The man’s right arm extended into the bedroom, and muzzle fire flashed from his gun. The man then aimed the gun to the left, where D.J.’s body was later found. After firing his gun, the man climbed into the house through the open window. A minute later, the man walked out of the house, returned to P.T.’s car, and drove off at 6:17 a.m. {¶ 17} Dayton Homicide Detective Angela Woody testified that she also responded to the shooting on Shaftesbury Road. Officers obtained a search warrant for the home, and 7 Detective Woody found an ultrasound in a drawer in P.T.’s bedroom. It was labeled with P.T.’s name and dated April 11, 2024, with an estimated gestation of 10 weeks and 2 days. {¶ 18} Officers located P.T.’s missing Malibu at the Pinewood Gardens apartment complex in Trotwood, Ohio. The vehicle was towed and taken to the evidence garage. The Malibu had obvious front-end damage to it, and the vehicle registration verified that P.T. was the owner. Surveillance video from Pinewood Gardens showed that P.T.’s Malibu entered the complex at 6:29 a.m. on May 22, 2024, and a black male with distinctive orange- colored dreads parked and exited the vehicle. He carried a small bag and was dressed in a black t-shirt, dark grey and black pants, and black shoes, similar to the shooter at P.T.’s house. The driver entered 60 Pinewood Circle and walked down the stairs to the lower level. {¶ 19} At 6:48 a.m., the Malibu driver left the apartment with another man, later identified as Ellis Morris, the boyfriend of Cunigan’s mother, Alicia Williamson. Morris and Williamson lived in an apartment in the lower level of 60 Pinewood Circle. Morris and the Malibu driver got into a black Jeep and left the apartment complex. Eventually, the Jeep returned, and the police towed it to the evidence garage. Rental paperwork for the Jeep was found inside the car, and Morris was identified as the listed renter. {¶ 20} Officers obtained Cunigan’s phone records and tracked his cell phone location to Eagle Ridge Apartments.1 Surveillance video from Eagle Ridge Apartments showed that at 7:06 a.m., Morris’s black Jeep pulled into the apartment complex. The front passenger, still dressed in a black t-shirt, black pants, and black shoes, got out and walked into an apartment building where Paige Dearmon lived. At 7:26 a.m., a man, later identified as 1. The name of the apartment complex changed over time and was referenced by multiple names during trial. For ease of discussion, we use only the name Eagle Ridge Apartments. 8 Daquann Norman, walked out of the apartment building without a shirt on and retrieved a white Nissan Altima. At 7:29 a.m., Cunigan, wearing a white shirt and black shorts, got into the Altima, and he and Norman drove away. {¶ 21} Norman testified that he was related to Cunigan and considered Cunigan his cousin. Norman had known Cunigan since they were children, and Norman knew Cunigan had children with P.T. At the time of trial, Norman was in a federal penitentiary in West Virginia for violating his probation. He had prior felony convictions for robbery, “representing disability,” and possession with intent to distribute. {¶ 22} On the morning of May 22, 2024, Norman and his friend Derrick Hoskins were at Paige Dearmon’s apartment at Eagle Ridge Apartments. At 6:46 a.m. on May 22, 2024, Norman received a text message from Cunigan. Norman texted Dearmon’s address to Cunigan so he could come over. Cunigan told Norman not to say anything to anyone, including Hoskins. Norman testified he did not know what kind of trouble Cunigan was in, but texted Cunigan, “U my f * * * ing Cuzin u in trouble so it’s my duty to keep u safe n * * * * u called me not nobody els.”2 {¶ 23} Norman testified that Cunigan entered Dearmon’s apartment that morning wearing all black. Cunigan stated that he had gotten in trouble with some people and did not want them to see him, so Norman gave Cunigan his own shirt. Norman walked out of Dearmon’s apartment without a shirt on and retrieved Dearmon’s white Nissan Altima. He drove up to Dearmon’s apartment, where Cunigan got into the passenger seat wearing shorts. Cunigan had left his pants in Dearmon’s apartment. Norman drove Cunigan to Springfield, Ohio, to meet a girl, but the girl did not respond, so they turned around, got on 2 . All quoted texts appear in original form, including spelling and grammatical errors. Expletives included in the original texts have been redacted with asterisks. 9 the interstate, and headed towards Indiana. Cunigan’s phone records confirmed that he was in the Springfield, Ohio, area at 8:10 a.m., but then his phone was turned off. {¶ 24} At 7:27 a.m., Norman’s phone texted “Uncle Gary,” alerting Uncle Gary that Cunigan was with Norman and requesting that Uncle Gary contact Cunigan via Norman’s cell phone. According to Norman, Uncle Gary was a friend of the family. Norman dropped Cunigan off just over the Indiana border. Norman immediately turned around and drove back to Trotwood because Dearmon wanted her car back. Police obtained Norman’s cell phone location information, which corroborated his testimony about his travel times from Dayton, to Springfield, to Richmond, and then back to Dayton. When Norman returned to Dearmon’s apartment, Hoskins was wearing Cunigan’s pants. Hoskins subsequently took them off because he claimed they were too tight. Later that day, Norman and Hoskins threw Cunigan’s pants away in a dumpster at Norman’s mother’s house on Germantown Street. {¶ 25} On May 24, 2024, officers went to the apartments located at 1207 Germantown Street and recovered a pair of pants inside a grocery bag from the dumpster behind the apartments. The pants matched those worn by the suspect in the video from the shooting on Shaftesbury Road. The parties stipulated that scientific testing established that the pants recovered from the dumpster had P.T.’s blood on them. {¶ 26} Nicole Cunigan, Sr. (“Senior”), testified that he is Cunigan’s father and Williamson is Cunigan’s mother. Senior was aware that P.T. was the mother of some of Cunigan’s children, specifically, the twins. Senior wanted Cunigan to get a job as a model and asked Cunigan to send photos of himself to help him get some work. On May 20, 2024, Cunigan sent Senior a photograph of himself that had been taken that morning depicting his orange-colored dreads, which was submitted to the jury. 10  {¶ 27} Senior had been a truck driver for almost 14 years, mostly working in the tri- state area. Sometime after 7:00 a.m. on May 22, 2024, while in Indiana, Senior received texts from Cunigan and learned about what had happened at P.T.’s house. {¶ 28} Prior to May 22, 2024, Senior owned three guns: a shotgun, a 9 mm pistol, and a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol. After he heard about what happened at P.T.’s house, he discovered that his .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol was missing. Senior denied giving his gun to Cunigan at any time in May 2024 and stated that Cunigan never returned a gun to him. {¶ 29} On May 23, 2024, Dayton Police Homicide Detectives David House, Melissa Schloss, and Woody went to 60 Pinewood Circle, where they met with Williamson and Morris. The officers were given consent to check Williamson and Morris’s apartment for anyone else who might be present. When Detective House went into the bathroom, he observed a paper towel bearing a handwritten number, which was later found to be Uncle Gary’s phone number. When Uncle Gary’s phone number was run in a police database, the number came back to Jerry Davis, a truck driver. After obtaining Davis’s phone records, it was determined that Davis’s phone travelled to Richmond, Indiana, on the morning of May 22, 2024. {¶ 30} Richmond is located a few miles west of the Ohio border near the I-70 and U.S. 40 interchange. Detectives obtained surveillance video from one of the hotels in Richmond that was in the same area as Davis’s phone on the morning of May 22, 2024. The surveillance video showed a red semitruck, which was leased to Davis, exit the highway and pull to the curb in front of a fireworks store. Cunigan got into the passenger side of the semitruck and then it pulled away at approximately 9:41 a.m. After leaving Richmond, the semitruck drove west to Indianapolis, Indiana, and then eventually traveled east to 11 Cleveland, Ohio. Davis’s phone records showed that his phone traveled to an area close to Davis’s listed address in Cleveland. Detectives House and Woody traveled to Cleveland, found Cunigan, and brought him back to Dayton. {¶ 31} Seventeen-year-old C.T. was P.T.’s eldest child. Cunigan was not his father. C.T. testified that P.T. had three children with Cunigan, including the twins. In May 2024, C.T. lived on Shaftesbury Road with his mom, Cunigan, and his siblings, but C.T. did not stay there all the time. Because some of C.T.’s family lived at Summit Square apartments, C.T. often spent time there. D.J. was one of C.T.’s close friends and lived in the Whitney Young apartments. {¶ 32} On the night of May 21, 2024, C.T. was at Summit Square Apartments at his friend Javon’s house. Cunigan contacted C.T. looking for P.T., but C.T. did not know where she was. Cunigan arranged to pick up C.T. to go look for P.T. Cunigan told C.T. to bring a gun, so C.T. brought his Taurus G2 9 mm gun. C.T. always kept his gun on him, so it was not unusual for him to bring it along. {¶ 33} Cunigan picked up C.T. and Javon in P.T.’s white Chevrolet Malibu. C.T. knew Cunigan had P.T.’s car and that she had wanted it back. That night, Cunigan wore his hair in dreads with a reddish-orange color to them. Cunigan had a gun in the cup holder of the Malibu, but C.T. did not know the make or model of it. Cunigan showed C.T. a video on Cunigan’s phone that depicted P.T. in bed with someone, but C.T. could not identify the other person. Cunigan drove them to D.J.’s house at Whitney Young Apartments and walked up to D.J.’s door. Cunigan told C.T. to call his mom while they were standing outside D.J.’s apartment. C.T.’s phone records showed that he tried to call his mother between 1:14 a.m. and 1:28 a.m. on May 22, 2024. C.T. finally spoke to his mother, but she did not disclose her location. After C.T. got off the phone, Cunigan knocked on D.J.’s 12 door. As the door opened, Cunigan used his feet to kick the door open, but Cunigan was unable to get into the apartment because the person on the other side of the door was able to shut it. C.T., Cunigan, and Javon returned to P.T.’s car, and Cunigan dropped them off at Summit Square Apartments. Cunigan did not say where he was going after he dropped them off. {¶ 34} Terraesha Reed, Cunigan’s sister, testified that around 5:00 a.m. on May 22, 2024, Cunigan texted her. Cunigan asked her for a ride to pick up three of his kids who were at P.T.’s house. Reed was aware that P.T. was the mother of Cunigan’s twins and lived on Shaftesbury Road. Reed did not have a car, but she lived with her brother Jamari, who was home and had a white Kia with 30-day tags. Jamari and Reed picked up Cunigan in Dayton around 5:35 a.m. At that time, Cunigan had his hair in dreads that were colored orange toward the bottom. {¶ 35} They arrived at P.T.’s house about 7 minutes after picking up Cunigan and let Cunigan out of the car. Cunigan was gone for about 10 minutes and then Reed saw Cunigan come out of P.T.’s front door before returning to the Kia. She also saw P.T. come outside the house before they drove away. Cunigan did not say anything about what happened inside P.T.’s house. Reed and Jamari dropped Cunigan off at some apartments and left. {¶ 36} Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sergeant Isaiah Keller was a specialist in computer forensics and was trained to examine computers, mobile devices, and other electronic devices. Detective Keller testified that he was given P.T.’s cell phone to download and analyze. Using Cellebrite software, his analysis of P.T.’s phone showed that from May 16, 2024, at 3:03:59 a.m. through May 22, 2024, at 4:46:00 a.m., Cunigan called or FaceTimed P.T. hundreds of times. Of those attempts, 827 went unanswered, while 13 74 attempts were answered. During that same time frame, P.T. contacted Cunigan 42 times, but there were no contacts from P.T. to Cunigan on May 16 or 17, 2024. {¶ 37} In the days leading up to the shooting, Cunigan’s texts indicated that at one point he had his father’s gun and told P.T. not to be scared of him. Cunigan also indicated that he knew P.T. was pregnant with his child and suspected her of messing around with other men whom he threatened to beat up. Despite P.T. telling Cunigan that she was done with him, Cunigan repeatedly accused P.T. of cheating on him. On multiple occasions, P.T. told Cunigan to return her car and to stay away from her. In the early morning hours of May 22, 2024, Cunigan wanted P.T. to tell her where she was located, but she refused to answer. Around 12:30 a.m., Cunigan texted P.T. that he knew the address of the man she was with, and he told her to tell him to come outside or he would come in. P.T. did not respond. Cunigan told P.T. to answer the phone and asked if she had left the kids home alone. At 3:39 a.m., Cunigan texted P.T. asking where his kids were. {¶ 38} A video was recovered from P.T.’s phone that was taken around 5:57 a.m. on May 22, 2024. In the video, a white Kia Optima displaying a temporary plate on the left- hand corner of the back windshield drives away from P.T. At 5:59 a.m., Cunigan texted P.T. that he was going to get her car. P.T. responded that she had gotten their license plate. Cunigan claimed that he was just making sure his kids were not home alone. P.T. texted Cunigan at 6:00 a.m. that “they not gone have a car either they going to jail n that car waved a gun bye I’ll show u,” and Cunigan asked P.T. not to call the police. P.T. then texted Cunigan at 6:02 a.m., “They going to jail with u and u had your hand on your gun.” Cunigan responded, “Ok, p. I ain’t know if he had one tf.” At 6:11 a.m., Cunigan texted P.T. that she could have her car and that he would bring it to her in 30 minutes. At 6:13 a.m., 14 Cunigan texted P.T. that P.T. won and he was through. P.T. sent her final text to Cunigan at 6:14 a.m. telling him that she was done giving him chances that he did not deserve. {¶ 39} Dr. Sean Swiatkowski, a pathologist from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, testified that he conducted the autopsies of P.T. and D.J. P.T. had an abrasion on her left fifth finger caused by blunt force trauma. There was an entrance gunshot wound on P.T.’s back left shoulder and a corresponding exit wound on the inside of her left arm. The bullet traveled from P.T.’s back to the front and angled downward. Another gunshot entrance wound was located under P.T.’s right breast with a corresponding exit wound on the front right breast. The bullet’s direction of travel was consistent with someone shooting P.T. from her right side. A third entrance wound was located on the top right front of P.T.’s forehead, which corresponded with a bullet that had entered P.T.’s skull. There was no corresponding exit wound, and a bullet was recovered from the soft tissue on the left side of P.T.’s neck. According to Dr. Swiatkowski, the barrel of the weapon must have been above P.T.’s head when causing this gunshot wound because the direction of travel of the bullet was downward. Toxicology results of P.T.’s blood reflected the presence of fentanyl, fentanyl metabolite, marijuana, and marijuana metabolite. None of these substances contributed to the death of P.T. Dr. Swiatkowski testified that the cause of P.T.’s death was multiple gunshot wounds. {¶ 40} At the time of P.T.’s death, she was pregnant. The fetus inside P.T.’s uterus was a male, and its gestational age was about 14-15 weeks based on its weight and measurements. There was no evidence of maceration, which occurs when a fetus dies in utero while the mother is still alive. Congenitally, the fetus appeared fine with no abnormalities. According to Dr. Swiatkowski, it was a viable fetus at the time of death. Dr. Swiatkowski explained that once a mother loses her circulatory ability to provide blood to 15 her fetus, the fetus is unable to obtain oxygen and dies. A fetus is not viable very long after the mother loses her circulatory function and dies. P.T. lost her circulatory function when she succumbed to the gunshot wounds. Dr. Swiatkowski was not concerned about the level of fentanyl in P.T.’s blood as it related to the death of the fetus. {¶ 41} D.J. had a gunshot entrance wound to the left side of his chest with a corresponding exit wound on his back. Near D.J.’s left wrist was a gunshot entrance wound with a corresponding exit wound on the posterior aspect of his ring finger. D.J. had a gunshot entrance wound to the left side of his neck with no corresponding exit wound. A bullet was recovered from the back of D.J.’s neck. Dr. Swiatkowski testified that the gunshot wound to the wrist could be indicative of a defensive wound. It was also possible that D.J. was shot through the wrist and the projectile exited his finger and entered his neck—all in one shot. D.J.’s toxicology results reflected the presence marijuana and fentanyl as well as xylazine. Nothing in the toxicology results contributed to D.J.’s death. D.J.’s cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. {¶ 42} Parole Officer Alec Sparkman testified that he worked for the Adult Parole Authority (“APA”) and supervised individuals released from incarceration on post-release control (“PRC”) or parole. After an individual’s release, they were required to meet with a parole officer within 48-72 hours. Sparkman testified that he met with Cunigan and reviewed his conditions of supervision, which Cunigan signed on January 18, 2024. This document was admitted at trial. Cunigan’s assigned parole officer had been on vacation, so Sparkman filled in for her to review Cunigan’s forms. The first condition of Cunigan’s supervision required him to obey all laws and have no contact with the victim of his current offense (the one for which he was on PRC). The third condition required Cunigan to obtain a written travel permit from the APA before leaving the state of Ohio. The fourth condition 16 prohibited Cunigan from purchasing, possessing, owning, using, or having under his control any firearm or ammunition. {¶ 43} Parole Officer Elizabeth Ackerman was Cunigan’s assigned parole officer. As part of her duties, she investigated where Cunigan planned to live upon his release. Ackerman met with Senior, who verified it would be okay for Cunigan to live with him. Ackerman was advised that there was a gun in the home but that it was in a locked safe. Senior agreed that Cunigan would not have access to any guns. Therefore, Ackerman approved Senior’s address as a location for Cunigan to live. Ackerman last saw Cunigan in March 2024, and Cunigan never asked to change his address to any other location. {¶ 44} Detective Melissa Schloss was the case detective assigned to investigate the deaths of P.T. and D.J. Because the police had a named suspect, Detective Schloss obtained Cunigan’s phone number, researched his background, and conducted a background check on P.T. and her vehicle. P.T. was the victim of Cunigan’s prior offense, and he was not supposed to have contact with her per his parole officer. Police never recovered the gun used to shoot P.T. and D.J. {¶ 45} Outside the hearing of the jury, Detective Schloss testified to a certified copy of Cunigan’s prior conviction for felonious assault, an offense of violence. The victim of that prior conviction in 2022 was P.T., a family or household member of Cunigan. {¶ 46} Following the completion of the State’s case, Cunigan made a Crim.R. 29 motion, arguing there was insufficient evidence of his identity as the perpetrator. Cunigan’s motion was overruled. {¶ 47} The following morning, Cunigan withdrew his notice of self-defense, declined to testify, and presented no witnesses on his behalf. In response to Cunigan’s decision to withdraw his notice of self-defense, the State withdrew Cunigan’s signed conditions of parole 17 supervision from submission to the jury, the State advised the court it would not discuss the PRC testimony during closing arguments, and Cunigan requested a limiting instruction from the court relating to the PRC evidence. A limiting instruction was given to the jury. {¶ 48} The jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on all counts and specifications. Before sentencing, the trial court found Cunigan guilty of domestic violence (knowingly – 1 prior) and having a weapon while under disability, along with their respective firearm specifications. The trial court further found that Cunigan was a repeat violent offender. {¶ 49} At sentencing, the trial court advised Cunigan of his duty to enroll as a violent offender upon his release from prison. Defense counsel requested that all of the counts related to each separate victim be merged into one sentence for each victim and asked the court to impose the minimum sentence. The trial court merged the two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault related to D.J. into one count of murder. The trial court merged the purposeful murder and involuntary manslaughter counts related to P.T.’s unborn child into one count of purposeful murder. The trial court merged the two domestic violence offenses into one count of domestic violence (knowingly – 1 prior), a fourth-degree felony. All of the three-year firearm specifications attached to the merged counts were ordered to run concurrently with one another. {¶ 50} The trial court then imposed a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the murder charge related to P.T., plus an additional mandatory 3-year prison term for the firearm specification and an additional 3-year prison term for the RVO specification. The trial court imposed a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the murder charge related to the unborn child of P.T., plus an additional mandatory 3-year prison term for the firearm specification and an additional 2-year prison term for the RVO specification. The trial court imposed a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the murder 18 charge related to D.J., plus an additional 3-year mandatory prison term for the firearm specification and an additional 1-year prison term for the RVO specification. The trial court imposed a stated prison term of 2 years on the charge of tampering with evidence, a term of 180 days in jail for the charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a stated prison term of 12 months for the charge of domestic-violence (knowingly – 1 prior) with an additional 3- year mandatory prison term for the firearm specification, and a stated prison term of 3 years for having weapons while under disability with an additional 3-year prison term for the firearm specification. The trial court ordered the underlying sentences to be served concurrently with each other. But the trial court ordered the firearm specifications and RVO specifications to be served consecutive to the underlying offenses and consecutive to each other for an aggregate sentence of a mandatory minimum term of 39 years to life in prison. Cunigan timely appealed. II. Cunigan’s Convictions Are Not Against the Manifest Weight of the Evidence and Are Supported by Sufficient Evidence {¶ 51} Cunigan’s first and second assignments of error are interrelated and thus we consider them jointly. The assignments of error state: APPELLANT’S CONVICTIONS FOR THREE COUNTS OF MURDER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (KNOWINGLY-PRIOR), TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE, UNAUTHORIZED USE OF MOTOR VEHICLE AND HAVING WEAPONS WHILE UNDER DISABILITY (PRIOR OFFENSE OF VIOLENCE) ARE BASED UPON INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE. APPELLANT’S CONVICTIONS FOR THREE COUNTS OF MURDER, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (KNOWINGLY-PRIOR), TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE, UNAUTHORIZED USE OF MOTOR VEHICLE AND HAVING 19  WEAPONS WHILE UNDER DISABILITY (PRIOR OFFENSE OF VIOLENCE) ARE AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE. {¶ 52} Cunigan argues that his convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence and are not supported by sufficient evidence because: (1) the State failed to prove his identity as the perpetrator; (2) the State failed to prove that he and P.T. were family or household members for the charge of domestic violence; (3) the State failed to prove the viability of P.T.’s unborn child to support the murder conviction; and (4) his conviction for tampering with evidence was not supported by sufficient evidence and was based on testimony that was not credible. We limit our manifest weight and sufficiency analysis to the specific arguments raised by Cunigan. A. Standards of Review {¶ 53} When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction, an appellate court examines all the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, would convince the average mind of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reas