After delays, murder-trial date for Niles boy reset to March 20

By Ed Runyan | August 27, 2016 at 12:07a.m.

WARREN

Assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor Chris Becker said he’s “been ready for some time” to start the murder trial for Jacob Larosa, 16, who is accused of killing his elderly neighbor March 31, 2015, at her Niles home.

But Larosa’s attorneys on Friday waived his right to be tried quickly, prompting Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to reset Larosa’s trial date from Sept. 19 to March 20, 2017.

“We will treat it as a capital-murder case and as vigorously as a capital-murder [death penalty] case,” Becker said after Friday’s hearing. Larosa’s case will not be a capital-murder case because juveniles are not eligible for the death penalty.

Instead, Larosa would be eligible to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole if he’s convicted of certain crimes he faces.

Larosa, of Niles, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the death of his neighbor, Marie Belcastro, 94.

Larosa, of Lafayette Avenue, was 15 at the time of Belcastro’s death.

Friday’s hearing was the first for Larosa in adult court since a ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court in June that kept his case in adult court. An earlier appeals court ruling also supported keeping the case in adult court.

The two appeals together delayed the case against Larosa by about four months. His attorneys from the Office of the Ohio Public Defender wanted the case to be returned to juvenile court, where punishments are potentially lighter.

Juvenile Court Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood transferred the case from juvenile court to adult court in November, saying Larosa has a “history of behavioral issues dating back to early childhood” and a “history of disregard for any treatment or sanctions that have been offered through the juvenile system.”

One of the reasons Judge McKay set the trial date back was a defense request that the state provide the funds to allow Larosa to hire an expert witness to investigate the case, which the judge approved.

Another reason is an expected defense request to suppress certain evidence. Judge McKay set a hearing for 9 a.m. Nov. 21 to hear evidence in that matter if it becomes necessary. The defense has not filed any motion to that effect but plans to, said Atty. Matt Pentz.

Judge McKay also set a sentencing date of April 27 or 28 “should it be necessary to sentence” Larosa, the judge said.