Woman gets 8 years for stabbing death

The defendant's mother said eight years in prison is too much.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A 19-year-old woman will spend eight years in prison for stabbing a 16-year-old girl to death during a fight outside of a Peace Avenue Northwest apartment last year.
Ciera Limbeck of Elm Road Northeast pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter for killing Brittnay Fuller of Swallow Street Southwest on Sept. 3. She could have gotten between three and 10 years in prison.
Before imposing the sentence, Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court told Limbeck that it was a difficult case for him, but he felt sure that Limbeck needed to accept responsibility for Fuller's death.
"I'm not sure you've taken responsibility for your actions," Judge Logan said.
Though it appears that Limbeck did not intend to kill Fuller, "your choices led to these consequences," Judge Logan said. He said it appears Limbeck carried a pocket knife with her to the apartment to threaten someone with it.
Police said the two girls had known each other before the fight, and that prank phone calls apparently had gone between the Peace Avenue apartments where the two women were staying that day.
What happened
According to a document filed in the case by Phil Arbie, the attorney for Limbeck, Limbeck went to the apartment of Shieann Slusher, Fuller's cousin, to confront someone after the prank calls were made. Fuller and Limbeck then fought each other until Limbeck pulled the knife and cut Fuller's neck.
The document said Fuller didn't realize she had received a serious wound and didn't seek medical attention right away, thinking she just had a bloody nose. She said she was tired and wanted to rest. It took an hour for her to bleed to death, the document said.
Margaret Hinkle of Warren, Limbeck's mother, said eight years in prison is too much because Fuller's death was an accident. She said Fuller's injury should not have caused her death.
"She went to sleep instead of going to the hospital. The cut was so small that she thought it was a nosebleed," she said after the sentencing. "They let the girl hemorrhage to death and want to take it out on someone else."
Father's statement
Evelyn Beeman, Fuller's aunt, who read a five-page statement in court, said Fuller's father, Joe Fuller of Bristolville, has forgiven Limbeck and would like to see her at home with her young daughter instead of in prison.
"I visit my daughter every day," Joe Fuller said in the statement, referring to Brittnay's grave. "It upsets me I wasn't there to help her when this happened and that I didn't get to the hospital before she died. I did not get to say goodbye or tell my youngest child how much I loved her. This haunts me."
The statement also quotes one of Brittnay's brothers, who said of Limbeck, "God was there the night you committed this heinous crime. He knows whether you mean to kill someone of if it was an accident. He knows now whether you are remorseful. Some of the family have forgiven you, others want vengeance, still others want to know why."
runyan@vindy.com