Man accused of killing teen pleads to reduced charge
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ZANESVILLE — "He murdered her. He murdered her," shouted a woman as she made an emotional exit from the courtroom Monday afternoon during Donavan Norman's guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter.
"No he didn't," another woman yelled back before being reprimanded by court security.
Norman, 22, is accused of killing 16-year-old Rhandi Freitag on May 31. She had just finished her sophomore year at Zanesville High School.
Norman was originally charged with murder, but it has since been reduced to one first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification.
According to Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor Gerald Anderson, Freitag was spending the night at Norman's house where they got into an argument while in his bed.
Anderson explained that Norman grabbed a pistol and pointed it in Freitag's face. Autopsy results determined the gun was only two to six inches away from Freitag's face when Norman shot her, Anderson said.
The recoil from the shot forced the gun back into Norman's eye, leaving an imprint from the rear sights on his brow.
After shooting Freitag, Anderson said Norman went downstairs to tell his grandmother he shot the girl, but didn't mean to kill her.
They then called Norman's mother to come over before ever dialing 911 around 2 a.m., prosecutors explained.
According to Anderson, Norman claimed he only meant to scare Freitag, not to kill her.
When police arrived, they found the gun under a pillow with no magazine attached, which prosecutors said is consistent with Norman removing it prior to the shooting.
Both the defense and prosecution agreed to a joint recommendation of 12 years in prison, the maximum sentence.
A pre-sentence investigation has been ordered prior to sentencing.
cmholmes@gannett.com
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Twitter: @cmholmesgannett
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Donavan Norman, accused of killing teen, pleads to reduced charge
