TRUMBULL COUNTY Bristolville man pleads no contest in woman's death

WARREN -- A 26-year-old Bristolville man has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide.
Michael Jarrett of state Route 45, Bristolville, entered the plea Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Jarrett, who remains free on a $2,500 bond, will be sentenced after a background check by the county adult probation department. The background check will take about a month, officials said.
The maximum sentence is six months in the county jail and a $1,000 fine, said Chris Becker, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor.
According to the indictment, Jarrett was accused of negligently handling a firearm that resulted in the death of his girlfriend, Patricia Gibbs. The indictment notes that the firearm was a shotgun.
The Trumbull County Sheriff's Department said Gibbs was found dead Feb. 2 at the Bristolville home she shared with Jarrett. She had been shot once in the neck, a sheriff's official said.
At the time of her death, the department was not sure whether her wound was self-inflicted. A coroner's official, however, ruled her death a homicide.