TRUMBULL COUNTY Ridge man plea bargains in death of his girlfriend

Brian George will be sentenced for reckless homicide.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A 22-year-old Mineral Ridge man will be sentenced in six to eight weeks for his role in the death of his girlfriend last year.
A murder charge against Brian George of North Main Street was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea Monday, before Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
George is instead charged with reckless homicide, a third-degree felony that carries a one-to-five-year sentence.
As part of the plea agreement, the Trumbull County Prosecutor's office has agreed not to oppose probation for George.
Judge McKay will sentence him after a pre-sentence investigation. George remains free on a $100,000 bond.
The plea agreement negated jury selection, which was to begin Monday morning.
Substance abuse: Assistant county prosecutor Chris Becker said that George's girlfriend, Debbie Hanna, 32, of Ohltown-Girard Road, died Jan. 6, 2001, and that George knew she was a substance abuser who took Librium and Prozac that night.
An affidavit filed with the court by the prosecutor's office says the two also drank alcohol and smoked marijuana.
Becker said George could have taken precautions to avoid Hanna's death but instead chose to go to sleep.
The Trumbull County coroner's office ruled Hanna's death a homicide and listed the cause of death as asphyxia.
George was indicted on charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault and faced 20 years to life in prison. He pleaded innocent to those charges.
In the affidavit, Weathersfield Police Capt. Joseph Consiglio said that at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 6, Weathersfield police and fire officials were called to George's home because Hanna was not breathing.
Bite marks: Fire Chief Randy Pugh found Hanna in the basement bedroom, and officials noticed fresh bite marks on her leg and arm and a bruise across her neck, the affidavit states.
George told Consiglio he and Hanna were riding a four-wheeler with friends from 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5 until 3 a.m. Jan. 6.
He went to sleep and woke up to find Hanna lying on him, and he noticed she wasn't breathing, he told Consiglio.