Ramsey friend pleads guilty
A Butler man pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping burn and hide the body of a woman murdered by his friend in June 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 in a field in Lawrence County.
Ramsey was convicted of first-degree homicide and other charges in the non-jury trial, and is now awaiting sentencing.
Barto's partially burned body was found June 12, 2017, by a farmer. 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 a corpse and tampering with evidence, both misdemeanors.
In return, Schultz agreed to drop the charge of conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, adding that the charge would have been difficult to prove.
Schultz presented the plea deal Tuesday before Judge Timothy McCune. The deal calls for a jail sentence of time served to 18 months.
Howard-George will be sentenced Dec. 13 and will be released immediately. He has been in the Butler County Prison since his arrest on June 13, 2017, providing him with credit for time already served.
Howard-George originally faced all three charges for his part in Barto's death on June 8, 2017.
His lawyer, Charles Nedz, told McCune Tuesday that his client has cancer.
During the October trial, Howard-George testified that he didn't conspire with Ramsey to kill Barto.
While he admitted finding out about Barto's death after it happened, he also testified Ramsey forced him at gunpoint to help him dispose of her body.
“He told me that what happened to her is going to happen to me,” Howard-George testified during the trial.
At the time, Howard-George also said his testimony wasn't in exchange for a lenient deal.
“I'm not getting anything for this,” Howard-George said at the time. “I don't expect the (district attorney) to do anything. The only person I expect anything from is my lawyer.”
