Elderly Avon Lake man to serve no prison time for stabbing wife in 2024

ELYRIA — An elderly Avon Lake man will serve no prison time for stabbing his wife a year ago. Appearing Wednesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court via video from a medical facility in Piketon in southern Ohio where he is receiving treatment for an undisclosed medical condition, 79-year-old Woodie Francis cried as he apologized to the court and to his family for stabbing his wife, Deborah Francis, on Dec. 3, 2024. Deborah Francis, who survived her wounds, appeared on the same video feed. Sitting next to the man who admitted he stabbed her multiple times that night, she told Judge Christopher Rothgery she didn't fear her husband and wanted to move on from the incident. Finding that a nonprison sanction "will not demean the seriousness of the offense" and would adequately punish Woodie Francis and protect the public, Rothgery sentenced him to three years community control, more commonly known as probation. Woodie Francis pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to two counts of felonious assault and one count each of disrupting public service and possession of criminal tools, all felonies, and a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, according to court documents. A felony attempted murder charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement between his attorney and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. The terms of Woodie Francis' probation include that he not leave Ohio without permission, get an alcohol abuse evaluation and pay community control supervision fees of $720. Rothgery said if Woodie Francis' health improves and he moves back to Lorain County, he will be placed on "slightly more" strict supervision than was laid out in court. If Woodie Francis violates the rules of community control, Rothgery said he could be sentenced to a minimum of six years in prison. Woodie Francis tearfully apologized in court. "I know I committed a serious crime," he said, sobbing. "More importantly I committed a crime against my wife and family. And I just wish to God she would forgive me. "I love her. I've always loved her. I tell her that often now. I should have told her that more often before this all happened. "I also have a wonderful family of four boys who love me and have supported me through this whole ordeal," he said. "And I love them and I'm so grateful for their support. And I'm so sorry for what I did and our family." Deborah Francis filed for divorce from Woodie Francis in January, but the case was dismissed in October by Domestic Relations Judge Sherry Glass, according to court records. Deborah Francis asked Rothgery not to send her husband to prison, saying she "just (wants) this to be over with and us to go on with our lives." She said she didn't feel threatened by her husband, and Rothgery ordered any remaining "no-contact" orders in the case to be removed. The divorce case resolved, defense attorney Kevin Spellacy said his client and Deborah Francis are "trying to reconcile." "My client regrets his conduct," Spellacy said in court. Avon Lake police said Woodie Francis called them just before 9 p.m. Dec. 3, 2024, to report he had stabbed his wife and that she needed help. Responding officers found Woodie Francis with blood on his hands, a bloody knife on a table inside the house on Wedgewood Drive and Deborah Francis sitting in a recliner in the couple's home office, bleeding from wounds to her neck, chest and hands. She was taken to University Hospitals St. John Medical Center in Westlake for treatment. Rothgery found Woodie Francis competent to stand trial in his wife's stabbing in a ruling in August. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.