Niles teen bypasses cause hearing; now court must decide if he's tried as adult in murder

WARREN

On the same day a Trumbull County Juvenile Court judge released records in the Jacob Larosa murder case, she set a three-day hearing in June to determine whether he will be tried as an adult — and she closed it to the public.

Larosa and his attorney told Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood on Thursday that they waived his right to have prosecutors prove they had probable cause that the 15-year-old committed murder, attempted rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.

That means prosecutors did not have to present witnesses to support their claim that Larosa committed the crimes in the death of Marie Belcastro, 94, on March 31 in Belcastro’s Cherry Street home.

That allowed Judge Stabile Harwood to set the next hearing June 8-10 in juvenile court to determine whether Larosa should be tried as an adult in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Stabile Harwood spent a great deal of time asking Larosa, who stood before her in handcuffs and in jail clothing, whether he understood the right to a preliminary hearing that he was giving up. He said he did.

Read more about today's proceedings in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.