East Cleveland mayor admits to 1982 murder of former boyfriend

Jet, Oct 18, 2004

The new mayor of East Cleveland, OH, recently acknowledged she killed a man 22 years ago, but says she acted in self-defense.

Saratha Goggins told Cleveland's newspaper, the Plain Dealer, she stabbed O'Neal Price, 48, to death in 1982. Her disclosure came after the paper obtained a certified copy of a coroner's report that said she admitted stabbing Price during an altercation in the kitchen of his home on Sept. 30, 1982.

She did not discuss specifics of the slaying, but said she acted in self-defense, the newspaper reported.

"It was an unfortunate incident that occurred in a time of my life," Goggins said. "There is nothing I can do to change it. I have moved on. I am going to survive it."

The late Cuyahoga County Coroner Sam Gerber ruled Price, a divorced father of three, died from a single stab wound to the heart. His report said Goggins identified Price as her boyfriend.

Goggins was married at the time and not involved in politics. A story in the newspaper at that time did not identify Goggins by name, reporting only that police arrested a 31-year-old East Cleveland woman who was screaming as she tried to get into a parked car.

The newspaper recently reported that Price's brother Thomas recalled the night of the slaying. In an interview he said that Goggins visited him before going to his brother's house. He also said Goggins told him she knew that O'Neal Price was about to take another woman on a vacation.

According to the Plain Dealer, rumors about Goggins' past had been circulating for years. They reached a peak in September, when she replaced Emmanuel Onunwor as mayor after Onunwor was convicted on corruption charges.

Court records contained no mention of Goggins' prosecution. She told the newspaper she petitioned a judge to seal the records in 1991. She said she was convicted, but declined to say the charge or whether she was jailed or otherwise punished.

Copies of restitution checks, provided by the Price family, contain references to voluntary manslaughter. Relatives said the checks were to cover burial expenses.