Man kills woman and toddler, sets home on fire, OH officials say. He’s convicted
Thirty years after a mother and her 17-month-old son were found dead in a burning home, a man has been convicted in their deaths, Ohio officials say.
Scott Hickman, 53, was found guilty of four counts of aggravated murder and two counts of murder, according to an Aug. 21 news release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
He was accused of killing 28-year-old Kimberly Fulton and her toddler son, Daniel, then setting fire to their Palmer Township mobile home March 5, 1995.
Attorneys representing Hickman did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
“Thirty-and-a-half years ago, Kim walked this earth and Daniel crawled; they came home one night, went to bed and didn’t wake up,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris said during court proceedings, according to the News and Sentinel. “Kim was smothered, doused with gas and then set on fire.”
The publication reported Hickman was originally arrested in 1998, but he was released because of a lack of evidence.
The case became cold, but in 2019, it was reopened by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, according to the attorney general.
The investigation led investigators back to Hickman, who was indicted in 2021, according to Yost. He called the advancement in the case a “product of sound investigative work.”
“These brutal murders went unsolved for three decades, leaving a family searching for answers and justice,” Yost said in a statement. “Thanks to the dogged work of detectives and prosecutors from multiple agencies – masterfully led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris – this villain is finally behind bars.”
Hickman is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14, officials say.
Kimberly Fulton’s sister, Sandy Oxley, told WTAP the family had been waiting “a long time” to hear the guilty verdict. She called the court hearings “traumatic.”
“Having to watch my 82-year-old mother go through some of the things that she experienced back in 1995, having to witness her going through that,” Oxley told WTAP. “And just the, you know, the ups and downs of the trial have been trying for all of us. But we knew it was right to pursue justice for Kim and Daniel, and we were successful in that today.”
Palmer Township is about a 100-mile drive southeast from Columbus.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Man kills woman and toddler, sets home on fire, OH officials say. He’s convicted."