Killer sentenced to life behind bars
Melissa Barto's mother, Lisa, held high a framed photograph of her murdered daughter for all to see in a Butler County courtroom Monday during the sentencing hearing for the man convicted of killing her.
“I will never forget her,” Lisa said. “I feel guilty I wasn't there to protect her from the horrible things he'd done to her.”
Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer sentenced Ishemer Ramsey, 23, to life in prison for first-degree homicide. The sentence will run no less than Ramsey's life.
Barto's daughter, who is now 9 years old, also had a message for the Lyndora man found guilty of first-degree homicide and other charges in late October during a four-day non-jury trial.
“You need to spend the rest of your life in prison and eat worms,” said the young girl in her victim impact statement that was read by Lisa, her grandmother.
While more than two dozen members of Missy Barto's family packed Shaffer's courtroom, absent were members of Ramsey's family — several of whom attended the weeklong trial in October. Ramsey's court-appointed lawyer, Christopher Capozzi, said Ramsey's father and aunt wanted to be there, but were unable to attend due to transportation issues.
“I get very little sleep these days,” Barto's father, Daniel, said in court. “It's still hard to accept that I'll never hear her voice or see her face. She wasn't just murdered. She was abducted. Had her skull broken and her face blown off.”
Shaffer broke from sentencing guidelines for the other charges — including abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Because those charges would have called for probation upon Ramsey's release from prison, Shaffer instead imposed another two to four years to Ramsey's life sentence.
“In my opinion, those guidelines are absurd in a case like this,” Shaffer explained in court.
Capozzi said he would appeal the verdict to the state's Superior Court. He has 10 days to do so.
Shaffer allowed Barto's family to make statements before sentencing Ramsey.
Daniel Barto spoke first, telling the court he and his family are dedicated to raising awareness about domestic violence “so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again.”
Barto's older brother, Ryan, thanked Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz and the accompanying law enforcement that helped investigate Barto's disappearance and murder in June 2017. Her burned body was later discovered on a Lawrence County farm.
“You're all heroes in my eyes,” Ryan said.
He recalled his sister as being a great mother “who would've done anything for her child,” before calling Ramsey a coward.
“A real apology from you would've been, 'I'm sorry I murdered Missy Barto,'” Ryan said. “Instead, after two years of dragging this out, the best excuse you can come up with is she couldn't stand not being with you and ended her own life. You're a joke.”
Ryan was referring to the last day of the trial when Ramsey took the stand and testified he didn't kill Barto, 26, saying her death was the result of suicide.
“I'm sure that military training of yours is going to come in handy in prison,” Ryan said, referring to Ramsey's previous enlistment.
Ryan again referred to testimony and events from the October trial, asking Ramsey, “How does it feel that your boys flipped on you so quickly?”During the trial, Ramsey's co-defendants James Howard-George, 26, of Butler, and Joshua Bowser, 24, of Lyndora, testified Ramsey told them he killed Barto. Howard-George's testimony portrayed Ramsey as a deliberate killer intent on covering up the crime.Ryan said he was happy Ramsey wasn't facing the death penalty. Under state law, Ramsey's crime does not make him eligible for the District Attorney's office to pursue the death penalty in his case. Aggravating circumstances must be part of the crime for the death penalty to be an option. For example, a victim under the age of 12, or a murder being committed in the course of another felony.“I want you to suffer every day. You're nothing,” Ryan said.With that, Barto's family erupted in applause.Schultz asked Shaffer to sentence Ramsey to life without parole “based upon his behavior and actions.” She also noted her office will be filing a restitution request later. After the hearing, Schultz noted the restitution will most likely call for $5,000 to $6,000 dollars.Capozzi argued the court did not have the authority to sentence Ramsey to life without parole, but Shaffer noted a prison life sentence automatically removed the possibility of parole.Capozzi also asked Shaffer to waive accompanying court costs and fines.“Mr. Ramsey is indigent as evidenced by me standing here. I am court appointed,” Capozzi said. “He has no savings, stocks, nothing of value. He simply does not have the ability to pay.”Capozzi added that if Ramsey were required to pay the fine, then it would limit funds he has for the prison commissary to buy things like a toothbrush.“It would be cruel to deprive someone spending their life in a cage of those little things,” Capozzi said.Shaffer declined to waive the court's costs, but added that he didn't impose any fines.Following the sentencing, Barto's best friend Caitlin Ramelli, who testified during the trial, said “it feels great. It feels like there's a road to healing and peace knowing he's in there. I hope he rots.”Ryan Barto said the family would have lunch together and afterward planned on shopping for a Christmas tree.
