Arizona man sentenced for 2018 Elyria murder (UPDATED)

This story has been updated to correct the date of the victim's death. The second of two defendants to admit to participating in the murder of an Oberlin man near an Elyria elementary School nearly four years ago has been sentenced to prison for the crime. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office said Joshua Hohn, 23, of Prescott, Arizona, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, theft and receiving stolen property in Lorain County Common Pleas Court on Thursday. Judge Mark Betleski sentenced Hohn to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre said. A trial had been scheduled to begin on July 12, according to court records. Hohn's attorney, Denise Wilms, said in a statement to The Chronicle-Telegram that her client "showed genuine remorse at his sentencing hearing and took responsibility for his actions." "He was only 19 years old at the time of this incident and knows he will now spend at least the next 20 years paying for his bad decisions," she said. "He has grown up a lot in the last several years and hopes to counsel other young inmates while in prison." Hohn, Gloria Watton and Phillip Tucker were charged with murdering 38-year-old Barry Spreng Jr. of Oberlin in 2018. Spreng was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of the now-closed Windsor Elementary School in Elyria on Sept. 5, 2018, a Wednesday. Elyria canceled school that day due to the heat. His gray 2007 Hyundai Sonata also was missing. Police immediately identified Hohn, Watton and Tucker as suspects and got warrants for their arrest. Watton was arrested in Tennessee and extradited back to Ohio to face charges. The day after Spreng's body was found, Hohn and Tucker got into a high-speed chase with Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers. The pair were in Spreng's car, and were tracked to Oklahoma through a cellphone, authorities said. The chase ended in a 100 mph crash into a fence and telephone pole in Canadian County, just west of Oklahoma City limits. Hohn was hospitalized in critical condition after the crash. Tucker escaped the crash with only minor injuries, according to Oklahoma authorities quoted in media reports. No one else was injured. Video of the chase was captured by a news helicopter. Tucker was extradited to Ohio to face aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault, theft and receiving stolen property charges, according to court records. Now 25, his case remains before Betleski's court, where a pretrial hearing is set for Aug. 15. Also listed in court records and media reports under the name Phillip Hohn-Tucker, he was being held in the Lorain County Jail on a $1 million bond. Defense attorney Anthony Nici couldn't be reached for comment. Watton, 21, also of Prescott, Arizona, pleaded guilty to complicity to involuntary manslaughter, complicity to aggravated robbery, complicity to felonious assault and complicity to theft in common pleas court in 2019. She has been held in the Lorain County Jail on a $2 million bond held in abeyance by Judge Mark Betleski until the trials of her co-defendants could be held. Attorney Alissa Barbosky said Watton's sentencing will be held after she satisfies the terms of her plea agreement with prosecutors. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com or on Twitter @daveobrienCT.