LaRosa moved to Youngstown out of respect for jail employee

Staff report

WARREN

Jacob LaRosa was transferred to the Mahoning County Adult Justice Center Wednesday to avoid any issues related to a custodian at the Trumbull County jail who is the son-in-law of LaRosa’s crime victim.

LaRosa, 18, pleaded guilty this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to the 2015 aggravated murder, robbery and attempted rape of his neighbor, Marie Belcastro, 94, in her home on Cherry Street in Niles.

Major Dan Mason, administrator for the Trumbull County jail, said custodian Tim O’Leary travels throughout the jail and “would have to go through the area where LaRosa would be housed multiple times per day.”

The transfer also was done out of respect for an employee that should not have to provide a service to an inmate if the inmate victimized the employee’s family, Mason said.

Mason said such transfers are common in such situations.

Read more on the matter in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.