By Burton Cole
FALMOUTH — A Falmouth man is being held on a $1 million bond on the capital murder charge in the Aug. 3 stabbing death of Donna Gibson, 53, of Demossville.
Pendleton County Sheriff’s deputies took David O’Hara, 54, into custody on unrelated arrest warrants shortly after Gibson’s body was found inside a residence on Hayes Station Road.
A Pendleton County grand jury last Wednesday returned indictments against O’Hara on charges of murder, tampering with physical evidence and being a persistent felony offender in the second degree.
From his arrest on the day of the murder, O’Hara also was indicted on charges of third-degree assault, resisting arrest, terroristic threats, criminal attempt to commit criminal mischief, and being a persistent felony offender.
He is being held in the Grant County Detention Center on an additional $25,000 bond on those charges.
Gibson’s daughter, Nichole LaFollette, said, “My mom was the type of person who saw the good in everyone, so I’m trying to not be vindictive or hateful.
“But at the same time, especially after losing her in such a sudden and violent way, it’s hard to not have an ‘eye-for-an-eye’ mentality. I can only hope that the court system gets my Mom and our family justice.
“I want everyone to remember the kind of person she was and not let the way she died overshadow that.
“It’s easy to spread rumors and gossip, but at the end of the day my Mom was so much more than a murder victim. She was a mother, wife, Nana, and friend. We will miss her for the rest of our lives,” LaFollette said.
According to Kentucky State Police, on Aug. 3, O’Hara showed up at another residence and told the person there that Gibson was dead at his home on Hayes Station Road.
A deputy dispatched to scene found Gibson’s body with a single stab wound.
Detectives from KSP Post 6 in Dry Ridge were dispatched to process the scene. Meanwhile, O’Hara resisted arrest when deputies took him into custody on a couple of warrants, reportedly for traffic violations.
The indictments in Gibson’s death were served to O’Hara at the jail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 3.
The capital murder charge means that if convicted, O’Hara could be sentenced to death.
While the death penalty remains in place in Kentucky, an injunction against the state’s execution protocol has put executions on hold since 2008. There are 25 people on death row at the Kentucky State Penitentiary.
According to reports, Gibson had been staying with longtime friend O’Hara while separated from her husband, Jon Gibson. The couple had been planning on getting back together.
Besides her husband, Jon, and daughter, Nichole Lafollette, Gibson is survived by sons, Austyn and Jon; and grandchildren Lily, Jackson, Ryland, Graysen, Lucas, Liam, JJ, Brooke and Jaecob.
Services were held Aug. 13 and burial took place at Mount Moriah Cemetery.