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Jacob Larosa appeals decision to try him as adult in neighbor’s murder
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office has asked the 11th District Court of Appeals for a quick turnaround in deciding an appeal filed by Jacob Larosa of the decision to try him as an adult in the beating death of his elderly neighbor.
Attorneys for Larosa, 16, of Lafayette Avenue in Niles, filed an appeal Dec. 23 of the decision of Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood of Trumbull County Juvenile Court to bind Larosa’s case over to the adult court.
Judge Stabile Harwood said Larosa should be tried as an adult because of his “lengthy history of behavioral issues extending back to early childhood” and history of disregard for any treatment or sanctions that have been offered through the juvenile system.” He remains locked up in the juvenile detention facility.
Larosa was indicted last month in the adult-level common pleas court on charges of aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the March 31 death of Marie Belcastro, 94, of Cherry Street in Niles.
Larosa also was arraigned Dec. 22 on the adult charges by Judge W. Wyatt McKay, but the appeal puts a halt to any further criminal proceedings in the case.
The office of Prosecutor Dennis Watkins filed a reply to the appeal Tuesday, asking that the appeals court dismiss the appeal and do so quickly on the grounds that it is “crystal clear” that Judge Stabile Harwood’s bind-over is not a “final, appealable order.”
The filing says the appeal is a stall tactic, and the Ohio General Assembly has “shown great concern for speedy and just disposition of criminal proceedings.”
“It is painfully obvious that this pending appeal was filed for the sole purposes of delaying justice in [Larosa’s] case,” the filing says.
It adds that an Ohio Supreme Court ruling in a 1974 Geauga County case has been the controlling authority for more than four decades relating to juvenile bind-overs, and the 11th District court followed that ruling in the past in saying the time to challenge a bind-over is after a juvenile has been convicted and sentenced.
In stressing the seriousness of the charges against Larosa, the filing says if he had been over age 18 at the time of the purported offenses, “it is likely that he would have been charged with capital murder,” which would have made him eligible for the death penalty.
Because Larosa was 15 at the time of the crimes, the most-serious penalty he would get if he’s convicted would be life in prison without parole eligibility.