Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear Jacob Larosa appeal

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled it does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal in the Jacob Larosa murder case and is sending it back to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The majority of the justices refused to hear an appeal of a decision by a county juvenile court judge to have Larosa, 16, of Niles, tried as an adult in the March 31, 2015, murder of his neighbor, Marie Belcastro, 94.

Larosa, of Lafayette Avenue, is charged with aggravated murder, attempted rape, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary and could get life in prison with no chance at parole if convicted in common pleas court. He was 15 at the time of Belcastro’s death.

A jury trial is set for Sept. 19 before Judge W. Wyatt McKay.