Ramsey found guilty
It was hard for the family of Melissa Barto to contain their cheers and tears Friday as Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer found 23-year-old Ishemer Ramsey guilty of killing Barto, his girlfriend, two years ago.
“Did you kill Melissa Barto?” Ramsey's lawyer, Christopher Capozzi, asked Ramsey during testimony on the fourth and final day of his murder trial.
“No, I did not,” Ramsey responded. The Lyndora man claimed Barto, 26, killed herself.
But Shaffer, presiding over the non-jury trial, disagreed, finding Ramsey guilty of first-degree homicide, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and conspiracy abuse of a corpse.
Shaffer made his decision after deliberating for less than an hour. Prosecutors dropped one count each of conspiracy criminal homicide and hindering apprehension. Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz, prosecuting the case, determined during the trial that those two charges weren't appropriate for the crime.
Capozzi called Ramsey to the stand Friday in an unexpected move to convince Shaffer his client didn't kill Barto.Ramsey took the stand in front of a courtroom packed with Barto's family and a some of his own.Ramsey testified he and Barto were arguing June 8, 2017, because he wanted to break off his relationship with her.The two were driving to the graduation ceremony of Barto's daughter, Ramsey said, when Barto started acting “manic, banging on the dashboard and the side door” of his car.Ramsey said Barto previously threatened to kill herself. His testimony elicited scoffs from Barto's family members, including her mother and father, Lisa Barto and Daniel Barto.“There seems to be laughter in the gallery,” Capozzi said.“Yeah, that's because it's laughable that she would kill herself,” Daniel Barto replied in open court as Lisa Barto clasped her hand over Daniel's mouth.“I would ask that the gallery be emptied,” Capozzi said.Shaffer denied the request.Capozzi again requested that Shaffer consider his request for a mistrial.Shaffer again denied the motion.
Ramsey went on to testify that while driving, he removed his gun to pack it into a bag, but Barto grabbed it from him and said she would kill herself. Ramsey said he ignored her and turned up the music.“I don't know the exact moment that she, that she, ummm,” Ramsey said as Lisa Barto ran out of the courtroom in tears. “She pointed the gun at herself and pulls trigger. She shot herself.”Ramsey then admitted guilt to all the other charges.Capozzi asked him why he didn't call police.“As a black man in Butler County, they would not believe me. My experience in Butler County at the end of the day, there's the black guy and that's me,” Ramsey said. “There's racial prejudice in this community.”“Why didn't you take the gun away from her?” Capozzi asked.“I didn't believe her, and it's not the first time she's threatened suicide,” Ramsey said, adding that he was in love with Barto, but he was tired of fighting with her repeatedly about the same things.After Barto's death, Ramsey admitted trying to hide the evidence by taking Barto's body to Lawrence County and attempting to burn it.
“After Melissa died, my actions did not reflect love or joy or anything,” Ramsey said. “It doesn't reflect who I am. My actions were wrong on so many levels. Frankly, abominations.”During cross-examination, Schultz confronted Ramsey about testimony of his two co-defendants earlier this week that Ramsey told them he killed Barto.“They're wrong,” Ramsey saidJoshua Bowser, 24, of Lyndora is charged with felony hindering apprehension and misdemeanor conspiracy counts of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence after allegedly allowing Ramsey to use his vehicle to transport Barto's body. And James E. Howard-George, 26, of Butler, is charged with felony conspiracy to commit homicide and misdemeanors of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.“You love her so much that you don't stop her from killing herself?” Schultz said.“Yes, ma'am,” Ramsey said.“You love her so much that you wrap her body up and drag it through the woods, dump lighter fluid on her and burn her body?”“Yes ma'am.” Ramsey said.After Schultz and Capozzi made their closing arguments in the afternoon, Barto's family and friends huddled outside the courtroom and prayed in a circle.
Within an hour, they were back in court to hear Shaffer's verdict as Sheriff Michael Slupe and six of his deputies encircled Ramsey.Shaffer will sentence Ramsey in December.During the four days of trial, Ramsey, who has been held in Butler County Prison since his arrest in 2017, was allowed to remain unshackled. But now, he was handcuffed as Shaffer found him guilty on all charges.After the verdict, Barto's older brother, Ryan Barto, hugged his parents and other family members.He said when he thinks about his sister, he thinks about music and their taste in similar bands that led to them bonding.He took her to a concert a few years ago to see Newfound Glory in Pittsburgh, he said. The last time he spent time with his little sister was shortly before her death, when they attended a cousin's wedding.“Me and her were starting to become closer as we became adults,” Ryan said as family members around him thanked God and made plans to celebrate over the weekend.'Her daughter is all we have'“Her daughter is all we have left of her and she means the world to us,” Ryan said.Barto's daughter is 9.Outside, Barto's father said he was “elated and relieved.“Now, he'll never hurt anyone again,” Daniel said. “I hope these young girls around town, they learn from her mistakes.”He urged other parents to learn more about their children's lives.“We learned more about her life over these four days in court then we knew about her when she was alive,” Daniel said.Lisa walked over to her husband and said the case should raise awareness about domestic violence.“It starts out little but it escalates,” she said, adding that nobody should tolerate abuse from a partner. “I'm so grateful; God gave us justice. I know she didn't kill herself.”
