COLUMBUS (AP) — A central Ohio man has been sentenced to decades in prison after admitting he killed his pregnant girlfriend in October 2014.
Jacob Ferrero pleaded guilty last month to charges including aggravated murder and aggravated arson, as well as murder and gross abuse of a corpse. He was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years-to-life in prison.
Franklin County prosecutors say the 24-year-old Ferrero struck and strangled 22-year-old Samantha Greenlee at their Columbus apartment when she was three months pregnant. They say he later set fire to the apartment.
Greenlee’s body was found in a shallow grave in Groveport.
Prosecutors say there’s no evidence supporting Ferrero’s claim that Greenlee attacked him. The defense says Ferrero hit Greenlee in self-defense and then strangled her, fearing the attack wasn’t over.