Man who helped burn,hide Melissa Barto's body accepts plea deal
This is an excerpt from a larger article that will appear in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article. A Butler man pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping burn and hide the body of a woman who was murdered by his friend in 2017.James Howard-George, 26, testified two weeks ago during the murder trial of Ishemer Ramsey that he helped Ramsey hide and burn 26-year-old Melissa Barto’s body.Ramsey was convicted of first-degree homicide and other charges and is awaiting sentencing.On June 12, Barto’s partially burned body was found by a farmer in a field in Lawrence County. Howard-George’s testimony helped solidify Ramsey’s murder conviction, according to Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz, who prosecuted both cases.Howard-George’ agreed to plead guilty to charges of abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence, both misdemeanors.In return, Schultz agreed to drop a charge of conspiracy to commit criminal homicide that Howard-George originally faced for his part on the day of June 8, 2017. Schultz presented the plea deal before Judge Timothy McCune.The plea deal calls for a jail sentence of time served to 18 months.
This is an excerpt from a larger article that will appear in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.
