MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon man pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of his girlfriend, Ronda Brennan.
Chad Taylor, 44, changed his plea during a hearing in Knox County Common Pleas Court, a few blocks from where the crime occurred on North Mulberry Street.
The penalty for murder, an unclassified felony, is a 15-year-to-life prison sentence, according to the plea agreement. Taylor will also state what happened the night of the murder when he is sentenced Aug. 8.
On Oct. 26, 2023 at approximately 3:25 a.m., Mount Vernon police officers responded to a reported stabbing at a residence in the 700 block of North Mulberry Street.
Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville clarified at Thursday’s hearing that a chef’s knife was the murder weapon.
Upon their arrival, the officers entered the residence and located a single female victim, later identified as Brennan. The victim was deceased and alone.
Detectives and investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation were called to the residence.
Officers also responded to a residence in the 700 block of West High Street where the initial 911 call originated. When officers arrived, they detained Taylor as a suspect.
According to the arrest warrant, dispatch received a call stating “his son-in-law had showed up at his house and told him he had killed his girlfriend.”
The victim’s sister spoke at Taylor’s hearing, holding a written statement. Taylor looked down mostly while she spoke.
“You took my sister,” she said. “(You) took her from everything.”