Couple in freezer case pleads not guilty

YOUNGSTOWN — Two people accused of killing a woman found in a freezer this summer pleaded not guilty this morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Arturo Novoa, 31, and Katrina Layton, 34, both of Mahoning Avenue, face charges of aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.

Both have been in the Mahoning County jail on $1 million bond since the body of Shannon Elizabeth Graves was discovered in a freezer in the Campbell home of Novoa’s friend in late July.

That bond will continue. The case was assigned to Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.