Former Ohio Judge Who Brutally Beat His Wife, Then Was Hired By Cleveland Mayor, Accused Of Stabbing His Wife To Death

On Saturday, a former Ohio judge named Lance Mason, who was hired by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in 2017 despite the fact that the former judge had been jailed after punching his wife 20 times and slamming her head into a car’s dashboard in 2014, was arrested and accused of stabbing that same wife to death in her home.

After the arrest on Saturday, Jackson, who had hired Mason as a minority business development director over 15 other candidates, fired Mason. He stated, "I extend my deepest condolences to the family of Ms. Aisha Fraser, especially to her children.”

Fraser, 45, was a sixth-grade teacher at Woodbury Elementary School who had worked in the Shaker Heights school district for 16 years. The Shaker Heights Teacher’s Association stated, “Aisha exemplified the best of Shaker Heights Teachers; smart, amazingly caring of her students and her colleagues, active in her profession and in Our Association. She is loved by many.” Shaker Heights Superintendent Stephen Wilkins added, “She touched so many of our children’s lives and will be deeply missed. Her loss is unexpected and the impact of this news on our entire school community is unimaginable and profound.”

The couple had two daughters; the older child, 11, has Down syndrome and underwent heart surgery at eight months of age; a younger sister is 8 years old.

Mason, who had already served in the state legislature, was a Cuyahoga Common Pleas judge in August 2014 when he punched his wife Aisha Fraser Mason 20 times and slammed her head against the dashboard of his car five times, breaking her orbital bone, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. Their two children were in the back of the car when the attack occurred. NBC News reported, "With their 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in the vehicle, Mason repeatedly struck Fraser in the head, bit her face and slammed her head against the dashboard, armrest and passenger window, the documents say. After trying to escape, Fraser fell to the ground, where Mason continued to strike her, the documents say, adding that he then got back in the vehicle and drove away, leaving Fraser there."

After the attack, Aisha Fraser Mason placed a desperate 911 call to find her children.

The Plain Dealer reported that Mason drove home after the 2014 attack. When officers arrived they discovered smoke grenades, semi-automatic rifles, a sword, a bulletproof vest and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition. As he was handcuffedby police, Mason asked, “How’s my wife?” The policeman responded, “What do you mean, how’s your wife? Where would your wife be?” Mason answered, “She was on — She jumped out of the car.”

Two days after the 2014 assault, Aisha Fraser Mason filed for divorce; the divorce was still pending at the time of her death. She had won a $150,000 judgment in a civil case against her husband.

Mason pleaded guilty to felonious assault and domestic violence; he spent nine months in prison before he was released. In his petition for early release he wrote a letter to his wife apologizing, claiming he “failed as a husband, father, and a man,” and said that he realized he was “broken” and had become a better father and man. He wrote, “My responsibility was to love and protect you. Instead of loving, protecting and providing for you and our daughters, I have provided a terrible example, and exposed you to rage and violence.”

A GoFundMe site has been established for the couple’s two daughters.