Another legal move in death of woman found in freezer in 2017

YOUNGSTOWN — Prosecutors with the state attorney general's office are asking a judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to vacate a plea and sentencing agreement for a woman who confessed to her role in the death of Shannon Graves, who was killed, dismembered and stuffed in a freezer.

Dan Kasaris is also asking Judge Anthony Donofrio to reinstate a $1 million bond for Katrina Layton, 35, who pleaded guilty Feb. 12, 2018, to charges of obstruction of justice and abuse of a corpse for the death of Graves, who was found in July 2017 in a freezer in a home in Campbell, because she has not been truthful.

Layton was originally charged with aggravated murder along with the boyfriend of Graves, Arturo Novoa, but prosecutors recommended probation when she gave her plea on the grounds that she cooperate with the state. She was released on bond after her plea and giving a statement.

Novoa is still in the county jail and two others have been charged with Graves' death since she entered her plea.

Kasaris said in a motion filed today prosecutors have evidence that Layton lied to them and that she had still been communicating with Novoa through notes smuggled to him in the jail.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com