STEUBENVILLE, OHIO (WTRF)– A Steubenville, Ohio man has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting a pregnant 22-year-old woman three times in the head in May 2022.
Joshua Jerome Woodland, 31, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 29 years by Jefferson County Common Please Judge Joseph Bruzzese.
It is reported that the sentence came after Woodland pleaded guilty to purposefully causing the death of Carol Jeane Barnett with a firearm specification and to involuntary manslaughter for the death of her unborn baby.
The firearm specification carries a three-year prison sentence, to be served first, and Woodland will begin serving his 15-years-to-life for killing Barnett, followed by 11 years for causing the baby’s death. Buzzese says all are mandatory.
Woodland has already spent 532 days behind bars, which will count towards his sentence.
Woodland told police officials that he believed the victim had laced his marijuana with something that caused him to shoot her with a 9 mm Smith and Wesson. It is reported that a 2-year-old child was in the vehicle with them at the time of the shooting.
Prosecutor Jane Hanlin told the court that Woodland’s blood test showed he was twice over the legal limit of alcohol intoxication and had TCH in his system. Still, neither of those is a defense for murder and involuntary manslaughter.
Steven Stickles, Woodland’s court-appointed attorney, told the court that Woodland had taken responsibility for his actions and showed great remorse.
Woodland had the right to have his second count reviewed and possibly revised by a grand jury because, according to Woodland, he did not know she was pregnant but waived that right, stating he just wanted to move forward with his sentencing.
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