Jessica Royall

A Cranberry Township woman charged in the death of her boyfriend will continue to be detained in Butler County Prison as she awaits trial after a Butler judge denied her request for a bond on Friday.

Arguing to keep her in jail, District Attorney Laura Pitchford noted the severity of the charges Jessica A. Royall, 29, faces, a long list topped with felony homicide and homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.

Royall was charged by Cranberry Township police after the incident March 23, which resulted in the death of Ryan Minett, 27, of New Brighton.

“It is reasonable that a jury could come back with a first-degree murder (verdict),” Pitchford said.

In Royall's charge of criminal homicide, a jury must decide the severity of the murder if they find a defendant guilty, with a verdict of first-degree murder carrying the harshest punishment since it implies that a murder was premeditated. But Royall's defense attorney, Anne Marie Mancuso, disagreed with Pitchford's assessment.

“The facts of this are that the victim jumped on the vehicle at some point and then fell off the vehicle,” Mancuso said. “This very squarely meets a factual basis for third degree.”

Mancuso went on to ask county Judge William Shaffer to allow a bond to be set for Royall and that she be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring.

“She would be living with her mom,” Mancuso said. “She is not a threat to the community.”

Mancuso also told Shaffer that since her imprisonment March 23 in the county jail, Royall completed programs that demonstrate her willingness to cooperate.

Pitchford differed in her characterization of the event that left Minett dead after he fell from the vehicle that Royall was driving, striking a curb and a lamp post.

“She was traveling at a high speed and had opportunities to stop, but she did not,” Pitchford said.

Minett suffered “massive trauma” to his head and torso and was unconscious. He was flown to a hospital and died the next day.