State court denies convicted Trumbull man’s request for appeal in murder case
The Ohio Adult Parole Authority refused Samuel Totts’ request for parole on July 23 and and scheduled his next parole hearing for April 2026.
Totts, 49, is incarcerated in Grafton Correctional Institution. He had his parole hearing last month. Because of the parole board’s action, Totts will continue serving a 23-year to life sentence for the August 1995 convictions of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery in the shooting death of 24-year-old Derrick Trimble.
His capital murder trial before the late Trumbull County Judge Mitchell F. Shaker was canceled after Totts pleaded guilty to the crimes.
Watkins noted Totts’ disciplinary problems while incarcerated. Watkins was opposing Totts’ parole as he and the victim’s family members did for previous bids in 2011, 2019 and 2022. Watkins cited the seriousness of the crimes, his relatively young age and recent disciplinary problems while in prison as reasons for denying parole to Totts.
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