Mahoning prosecutor opposes parole for Bennie Adams, killer of Gina Tenney in 1985

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office has opposed parole for Bennie Adams, who was convicted in 2007 of murdering Youngstown State student Gina Tenney more than 20 years prior.

Adams, 64, is still serving a life sentence in Trumbull Correctional Institution in Leavittsburg, and becomes eligible for parole late next month, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

His case will go before the state parole board on Thursday, county prosecutors said in a news release.

"While Adams was always a suspect in Ms. Tenney's murder, evidence directly tying Adams to her murder was not obtained until more than 20 years after her death," reads the release.

That was when the Ohio Attorney General's office called for police departments across the state to submit cold-case evidence for DNA testing. Youngstown Police Department still had semen evidence from Tenney's case, including a vaginal swab and a pair of underwear, that showed Adams "cannot be excluded as the source," reads the release.

Adams' aggregate sentence is 32 years, including 18 years for a separate, unrelated rape that occurred in Boardman Township in 1985, according to the prosecutor's office.

Adams had originally faced a death sentence for Tenney's murder, but the Ohio Supreme Court ultimately vacated that sentence and resentenced him in 2016.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Rivera in an objection to Adams' parole said the man's "terrifying pattern of criminal behavior in 1985" justifies his continued imprisonment.

Prosecutor Paul Gains said there is no "reasonable ground to believe that ... paroling the prisoner would further the interests of justice and be consistent with the welfare and security of society."

This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Mahoning prosecutor opposes parole for Bennie Adams, killer of Gina Tenney in 1985."