COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio – A former police officer apologized to his wife’s family Tuesday for killing her in 2016.
“I am sorry. I do not know what happened. At some point hopefully you can forgive me,” Jeffrey Hawkins said in court after taking a 20-year prison sentence in a plea deal.
Hawkins shot his wife Jo Ann at their home in Colerain Township on April 25, 2016. then made an eerily calm call to 911.
Hawkins, 57, told the operator his name, his phone number and his address. And then he told her what he did:
“I just shot and killed my wife,” he said. “(My gun) is on the sink. I’m not a threat to anybody. I’m a former police officer. I’m not sure what happened.”
You can listen to the 911 call here:
His calm broke when he told the operator why he did it.
“She took all the money out of my bank account on my birthday on Saturday,” he said, choking back tears. “You guys were out here a couple times. I don’t know. I came home and she was here. She just wouldn’t talk to me. And she just kept saying, ‘Talk to my lawyer.’
“It just happened. I never wanted to do anything. I’m alright. Well, I’m not alright. God, forgive me.”
Hawkins’ defense team filed a motion of insanity but a medical evaluation found he was not insane.
After the shooting, a son of Jo Ann Hawkins, 59. said family members feared for their lives if Hawkins got out on bond.
“We’ve been scared in the past. I had an off-and-on relationship with my mom in the past because of him, and we know what he’s capable of,” said Bo Hart, Jo Ann Hawkins’ son. Hart added that he had suspected psychological abuse in the past.