Anthony Wayne Kirkland was born on September 13, 1968, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a 17-year-old unwed mother named Carol Yvonne Kirkland. His biological father, listed as Georgia Palmore, was absent from his life, and his mother later married Clarence Spencer. According to his defense team, Kirkland suffered both physical and emotional abuse during childhood, though no formal record or diagnosis confirms this.

On May 20, 1987, Anthony Kirkland raped and murdered his girlfriend, Leola Douglas. After the crime, he set her body on fire to hide evidence of the rape. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received a sentence of 10 to 25 years in prison.

Kirkland was paroled in 2004 after serving 16 years of his sentence. From May 4, 2006, to March 7, 2009, he killed four more females, including two teenagers and two adult women. Three of these murders involved strangulation. Similar to his first crime, he burned the victims’ bodies to conceal evidence of rape. Kirkland's last victim was found with her belongings, including her watch and iPod, in his possession.

Kirkland was arrested near the scene of the last murder. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to murder and abuse-of-a-corpse charges related to two of the victims. On March 12, 2010, a jury found him guilty on all counts, including specifications for the death penalty. He was sentenced to death on March 31, 2010.

Kirkland received death sentences for the aggravated murders of Esme Kenney and Casonya Crawford. He was also given a sentence of 70 years to life for the murders of Mary Jo Newton and Kimya Rolison. Currently, he is incarcerated at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

The Supreme Court of Ohio upheld his conviction and death sentence in May 2014. Although he was granted a stay of execution in 2014, he continued to appeal his sentences. In 2018, a jury once again recommended a death sentence for him. Subsequently, on August 28, 2018, a judge confirmed this sentence, and Kirkland remains on death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution.

As of 2025, Kirkland is awaiting execution at Chillicothe Correctional Institution, having spent over a decade on Ohio’s Death Row.