(Ohio Attorney General)
Franklin County prosecutors said the discovery inside an Ohio home was “a scene straight out of a horror movie.” This week, a jury convicted 36-year-old Eric Ward of aggravated murder, murder, gross abuse of a corpse, and multiple other charges in the death of 32-year-old Allyson Lorenz, whose dismembered remains were found in 2021.
The gruesome case began on September 29, 2021, when a Franklin County SWAT team raided a home on Bashan Drive on Columbus’ Far West Side during a drug investigation. While executing the search warrant, officers discovered multiple black trash bags in the garage containing Lorenz’s dismembered body.
An autopsy determined Lorenz died from multiple blunt force injuries after being “mercilessly beaten.” Prosecutors alleged her body was dismembered postmortem, and investigators found the garage lined with plastic sheeting to contain the grisly crime scene.
Ward testified on August 4, claiming he had “no idea” how Lorenz died and insisting that police had planted evidence. “We didn’t know nothing about what was in the garage or nothing,” he said, even as prosecutors presented DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
Investigators recovered a Tyvek-like suit with Ward’s DNA on the inside and Lorenz’s DNA on the outside, along with an axe and shears found in the garage. Video footage from a local home improvement store showed Ward handling the axe and shears before a woman accompanying him purchased the items. Prosecutors said those tools were later used in the dismemberment, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The same woman charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse pleaded guilty and testified against Ward, telling the jury that Ward beat both her and Lorenz for hours using boxing gloves before Lorenz became unresponsive and died.
After deliberating for about two hours, the jury found Ward guilty on all 18 counts. He now faces a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie Lynch will issue his sentence at a later date.
Ward’s conviction followed two trials. The first, which began on July 14, 2023, was abruptly ended when a juror reported being approached and pressured not to convict. A second trial began July 28 under heightened security, requiring photo ID for anyone entering the courtroom.
With the guilty verdict, prosecutors said justice had been served for Lorenz, whose brutal death and dismemberment shocked the local community.
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