YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova is urging the Ohio Parole Board to deny parole to Rosalie Grant, 62, convicted in 1983 of two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of aggravated arson in the April 1, 1983, deaths of her two young sons.

Grant was sentenced to the death penalty, but then-Gov. Dick Celeste commuted her death sentence in 1991. Her present sentence is 20 years to life. She has been in prison since November 1983, almost 40 years.

She will have a parole hearing in April.

Authorities said she burned the house to collect the boys’ life insurance money. They were trapped in a bedroom and unable to escape.

Investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set through the use of an accelerator, later identified as lighter fluid that was spread on the floor and in the cold air return of the boys’ bedroom, according to DeGenova.

Several weeks before the fire, Grant secured life insurance policies on her sons. Although Grant had a daughter, a policy was not taken out on this child. At the time of the fire, that child was staying with her grandmother.

In a letter, DeGenova urged th parole board not to release Grant, arguing that “the unique factors” of Grant’s offenses “outweigh her rehabilitative efforts.”

The prosecutor stated: “While Grant has made productive use of her time in prison, none of these factors … change the fact that Grant burned her own babies alive for financial gain.

“She set fire to her sons’ bedroom, closed their bedroom door and walked outside to secure her own safety. She then stood outside while the bodies of her own children burned beyond recognition,” according to DeGenova.

“No circumstances could ever justify the release of Grant back into society.”

TOMMY WILLIAMS

DeGenova is also opposing the release of Tommy Williams, 44, who was convicted of murder with a firearm specification and was sentenced to 18 years to life in the April 23, 2000, killing of Michael P. Booker, outside of Pal Joey’s tavern on Youngstown’s South Side.

DeGenova stated that the shooting happened when patrons were leaving the bar early in the morning, and Booker saw Jason Emert strike a woman during an argument. Booker got into an argument Emert, who tried to get away. As the two fought, Williams fired a gun at Booker, hitting him in the abdomen, killing him, DeGenova stated.

Williams was admitted to prison Oct. 19, 2001.

DeGenova is asking the parole board not to release Williams, saying Williams has only completed two programs while in prison for 21 years. His behavior in prison “does not demonstrate that he is rehabilitated or that he is a different man than the man who shot and murdered Michael Booker,” DeGenova stated.