Shivangi Sinha
One evening in November 2007, Stephanie Ducheine told her parents that she was coming back home shortly. However, as the hours turned into days and Stephanie still had not come home, her family grew increasingly worried. On the very day they officially reported her missing, they received a call from police informing them that her remains had been discovered in an abandoned house in Columbus, Ohio. As investigators began piecing together what had happened, they soon focused on a man who was already being sought in connection with another crime. ID’s ‘Evil Lives Here: He’ll Kill Me Next’ details the case and the investigation that ultimately led to the arrest of the dangerous suspect.
Stephanie Ducheine Had Been in an Accident a Year Before Her Death
Stephanie A. Ducheine was born on January 19, 1988, to Yolette and Gardy Ducheine. The family lived in Haiti during the early years of her life and relocated to the US when Stephanie was just one year old. After settling in the country, they eventually made their home in Columbus, Ohio, by 2003. Stephanie attended Northland High School before transferring to the Life Skills Center on Route 161, a charter school designed for students who had dropped out or were considered at risk of leaving school. In 2006, she was involved in a serious car accident that resulted in the loss of sight in one eye.
Although the recovery process was challenging, Stephanie remained a determined young woman who refused to let the setback define or limit her future. By May 2007, she had dropped out of the Life Skills Center, but according to her teachers, she always intended to earn her diploma one way or another. She was known as a responsible young woman, and her parents had complete faith that she would go on to make something positive of her life. On the evening of November 18, 2007, Stephanie called her parents and told them that she would be home in about 20 minutes. Expecting her arrival, they left the back door open for her, but she never made it home.
They tried calling her twice without success, and by the third attempt her phone had been switched off. Her family immediately sensed that something was wrong, as Stephanie was not the type of person to disappear without letting them know where she was. On November 20, 2007, Stephanie’s remains were discovered in the kitchen of a vacant home on East Morrill Avenue on the South Side of Columbus. Following an examination by the medical examiner, the autopsy report confirmed that Stephanie had died as a result of strangulation, prompting investigators to launch a homicide investigation.
Stephanie Ducheine’s Killer Was Connected to Several Other Crimes After His Arrest
As investigators began working on the case, they learned that on the evening Stephanie went missing, she had been planning to go on a date. She had met someone through a telephone dating line, but her parents knew very little about the person. The only details they could provide were that the man went by the name “Mike” and had a noticeable scar on the side of his neck and face. As detectives followed up on these leads, they connected the description to another complaint that had recently been filed in Columbus. A woman named Domeneka Wright had accused her boyfriend, Michael Darnell Horton, of attempting to strangle her in late October 2007.
Horton had been held behind bars for two days following the earlier allegations against him, but was later released on bail. A restraining order had been put in place, yet he allegedly violated it by calling Domeneka twice. She, who shared a daughter with Horton, had already moved out of their home and was hiding from him out of fear. When detectives contacted her and informed her that Horton had become a person of interest in Stephanie’s case, she was reportedly shocked. She then provided investigators with information about where he might be located. Acting on the tip, officers tracked him to a residence in Pittsburgh’s St. Clair Village neighborhood, where he was found hiding in a closet. Horton was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Investigators also linked his DNA to multiple other cases involving rape, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping.
Michael Horton is Behind Bars in Ohio Today
In January 2009, Michael Horton pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him, including murder. The following month, in February 2009, he was sentenced to 43 years to life in prison for all of the charges. Horton is currently being held at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Scioto County, Ohio. He will become eligible for parole for the first time in October 2050, at which point he will be approximately 69 years old.
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