Sheriff: Double murder suspect in standoff will face several charges

BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) - A man suspected of murdering two women will face a number of charges after taking hostages and trying to take his own life, Butler County’s sheriff said Thursday. James Garen, 45, is recovering in a hospital in Dayton. Sheriff Richard Jones says Geran is a suspect in the death of Megan Motter, 27. A woman found Motter shot in the head on Woodsdale Rd. in Madison Twp. Wednesday morning. Sheriff Jones said deputies went to an apartment on Sal Blvd. in Trenton Wednesday morning looking for Garen and when they arrived Garen fired shots at them and they fired three shots back. He said negotiators spoke with Garen in the hopes of trying to get him to release the hostages who were his girlfriend, her sister and their 63-year-old mother, Sharon McCleary. Sheriff Jones said Garen allowed his girlfriend’s sister to leave and later agreed to surrender and allowed his girlfriend to leave the apartment. But Jones said Garen claimed he wanted to smoke a cigarette first. “At that point he immediately pushed the door closed. We tried to make entry at that time, then we heard gunfire. It appeared there was two shots fired immediately as we were trying to make entry,” Sheriff Jones said. Sharon McCleary was found shot in the head in the apartment. She was sitting in a chair where her family said she spent most of her time because she was blind and had health problems. “I still don’t understand why he shot her. He was about to surrender. From what I was told he was walking out the door,” said Richard McCleary, Sharon’s son. Richard said his mother didn’t have any control over who was staying in her house. Her two daughters and Garen were living with her. “She was a good lady. Good lady. Loved everybody. You know let these fools in her house. Bad idea but she couldn’t do anything about that. She was helpless,” Richard said. Sheriff Jones said he believes he knows the motive for the shootings but wouldn’t discuss it at a news conference Thursday. Sharon McCleary’s family members said Garen and his sister used methamphetamine and crack cocaine. “He’s big into drugs and from what I understand they had just gotten a fresh supply that night,” Richard said. Garen served time in prison for gross sexual imposition in the 1990’s in Butler County. He was released from prison in March 2016 after serving time for break-ins and stealing guns in Clermont County.