Boy, 16, indicted in beating death of his elderly neighbor

Staff report

WARREN

Jacob Larosa, 16, of Niles has been indicted by a Trumbull County grand jury on charges of aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery in the March 31 beating death of his elderly neighbor.

Larosa is expected to make his first appearance in an adult courtroom Wednesday when he is arraigned in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

If convicted of aggravated murder, he could get life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Judge Sandra Stabile-Harwood of Trumbull County Juvenile Court bound the case over to adult court after a hearing last month in juvenile court.

Larosa is accused of beating to death Marie Belcastro, 94, in her Cherry Street home in Niles. Belcastro’s house was near Larosa’s home on Lafayette Avenue, and they knew each other.

Larosa’s prosecution will be one of the few in recent decades in which a juvenile has been tried as an adult in Trumbull County.

Larosa remains in the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention lockup, but Judge Stabile-Harwood warned Larosa at his Nov. 23 hearing that he will be transferred to the adult jail if his bad behavior at the juvenile facility continues.

Chris Becker, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said Larosa had walked away from juvenile facilities in the past and had hatched an escape plan while locked up on his current charges.

Judge Stabile-Harwood said Larosa had a “lengthy history of behavior issues extending back to early childhood” and a “history of disregard for any treatment or sanctions that have been offered through the juvenile system,” in explaining her reason for transferring the case to adult court.