COLUMBUS – A man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend at their apartment and burying her in a wooded area near a church could be sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to charges including aggravated murder and aggravated arson Tuesday.
According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, Jacob Ferrero (above left)showed no emotion as he entered the plea in Franklin County Common Pleas Court but he has been remorseful and “incredibly emotional” about the case, his attorney said after the hearing.
Ferrero, 24, admitted to murdering his pregnant girlfriend, burying her in a Groveport field and setting fire to their West Side apartment.
Judge Laurel Beatty set sentencing for March 9 after Ferrero also pleaded guilty to murder and gross abuse of a corpse.
The courtroom was crowded with family members for both the victim, Samantha Greenlee, and the defendant. None of them wanted to comment.
Ferrero killed Greenlee, 22, during an argument after he told her that he had another pregnant girlfriend that he wanted to be with, Assistant Prosecutor Warren Edwards said after the hearing. That detail was revealed when Ferrero confessed to police, Edwards said.
Prosecutors say Ferrero struck and strangled Greenlee at their apartment on the West Side in October 2014, when she was three months pregnant.