Girl pleads ‘true’ to lesser charge in dad’s slaying

WARREN » A 15-year-old girl charged in the fatal shooting of her sleeping father pleaded “true” to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced Monday to one year in jail.

The girl’s attorney has said she shot her 41-year-old father last July to stop him from abusing the family.

The girl, who has been in jail since the shooting and had been charged as a juvenile with aggravated murder, will serve two more months in jail. Trumbull County Family Court Judge Pamela Rintala also ordered her to undergo mental health treatment.

Assistant county prosecutor Stanley Elkins said the plea deal came after witnesses who were at the scene of the shooting changed their testimony.

He said those who were in the house had told police the girl had not been abused.

The girl’s attorney, Ian Friedman, said her father was abusive to her mom and that she and her siblings witnessed it every day.

He said the teen shot her father once in the head with his .45-caliber handgun as he slept on a living room couch at the family’s home in Warren.

The Associated Press generally does not name juveniles accused of crimes.

Friedman described the father as controlling and said he required his wife to constantly remain near him.

The girl’s 41-year-old mother told WJW-TV in Cleveland last year that she filed for a protective order against her husband five years ago but later dismissed it.