Trey Wise

Dr. Cassel
English 231
28 October 2015

Maps
Downtown Dayton, Ohio is a full of rich history and also an ever growing part of
Daytons industrial, technological, and economic future. When you walk the streets you can hear
the sounds of the flourishing community as people commute to their jobs. In the heart of
Downtown the buildings tower over you like mountains, and the aroma of food from surrounding
food vendors will remind you of your favorite dish from moms kitchen. Just the very
atmosphere of Downtown instills a sense of faith in the community that many have lost. Dayton
has so much to offer but just like the world this is only the crust. What happens when you dig
into the mantle and drill into the core, is Dayton really such a great city?
Only some people know the gory history of Dayton and only fewer witness the monsters
of this city face-to-face. In places such as the courthouse, jail, and coroners crime lab is where
most of these stories take place. This is where people you may walk passed every day and not
even notice have monsters living with in them, which stay dormant until awoken by
circumstance. While ignorance is bliss it may also be dangerous. If youre willing to educate
yourselves on some of the most gruesome cases in Dayton history, then read on. This is not for
the faint of heart.
China Arnold a Dayton native, sits in the court room awaiting trial for aggravated murder.
A blank look covers her face as she glared at the jury, the jury and everybody in disbelief of the

events that have brought them to this court room. China is guilty of putting her twenty-eight day
old baby in the microwave after a fight with her boyfriend. "She died because she was
overheated," said Dr. Marcella Fierro, retired chief medical examiner for Virginia. "She was
cooked." We try to understand what would drive a mother to murder her child and in some cases
we will never know. This is only one of many cases that hide behind the walls of the city of
Dayton.
Criminals come in all ages, some murderers are just children. Children like 19 year old
Carlos Craig, Carlos is charged with the murder of Damarcus Buress. Carlos was said by
witnesses to enter the victims car and words were exchanged. Carlos got out and opened fired
on Buress car, hitting Buress with bullets that resulted in his death. Just looking at Carlos, he
looks like your normal nine-teen year old boy. Who would have thought he had such a vicious
killer inside of him.
This story is not about a Dayton murder, but this shows how monsters can transport
violence and vile into our streets. Alton Coleman is a thirty-five year old male, who with
girlfriend Debra Brown who committed a series of murders and rapes starting in Kenosha,
Wisconsin and ending in Dayton, Ohio. Coleman dropped out of middle school and became
known to local police for committing petty crimes involving property damage and setting fires in
Colemans town of Waukegan, Illinois. The older Coleman got, the more violent his crimes
became. Including being arrested for and charged for rape at the age nine-teen.
Somehow escaping these charges, Coleman raped and killed his friends four-teen year
old daughter. After doing this Coleman fled from Illinois and went on a six state rape and
murdering spree with his girlfriend. Their last victim was Oline Carmichael, Jr. who they
kidnapped and forced in a trunk of a car, which they drove to Dayton. They left the car with

Carmichael still alive in the trunk. By the time authorities caught up to the deadly pair on July
20, 1984, they had committed at least eight murders, seven rapes, three kidnappings and fourteen armed robberies. The city of Dayton is full of life, but with life also comes death. Those
who dont learn from their past our doom to repeat it. I urge you to walk this hollow ground and
learn about the real history of the city you call home.