Start of Erica Stefanko's retrial in pizza delivery murder case is delayed by COVID-19

The start of Erica Stefanko’s retrial in the pizza delivery murder case has been delayed again, this time because of illness.

Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Brian LoPrinzi tested positive for COVID-19 Monday and Felicia Easter, his co-counsel on the Stefanko case, is also sick but has so far tested negative.

Easter requested a 30-day delay in the start of the trial Tuesday morning when opening statements were expected to start.

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Towell denied this request and ordered that LoPrinzi take a test each evening at 6 and inform her staff of the results. She said her staff will let the jurors know before 8 p.m. each day if they need to report the next morning for the start of the trial.

This is the second delay in the highly publicized trial that is being livestreamed on Court TV. The first was caused last week by an issue with several jurors researching and discussing the case before they had been warned against this. A second pool of jurors was brought in the following day, restarting the jury selection process.

Stefanko is convicted but then wins right to new trial

Stefanko, 41, of Rittman is accused of making a bogus pizza delivery call that lured Ashley Biggs to where she was killed in 2012.

Chad Cobb, Stefanko’s ex-husband, is serving a life sentence for Biggs’ slaying. Cobb and Biggs, 25, of Jackson Township, were in a heated custody dispute over their then-7-year-old daughter.

Stefanko was convicted of aggravated murder after a trial in November 2020 and sentenced to life in prison with possible parole after 30 years. Her first trial happened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when few trials were proceeding and safety protocols were in place.

Stefanko won the right to a new trial when the appellate court ruled that Cobb shouldn’t have been permitted to testify remotely.

First pool of jurors is dismissed in Stefanko’s retrial

Jury selection in Stefanko’s retrial began Jan. 9 but this pool of 60 jurors was dismissed the following day after attorneys learned that several jurors had researched and discussed the case.

The attorneys selected a jury Thursday from a new pool of 60 jurors who were admonished from the start not to discuss or look into the case.

On Friday, jurors were taken to five locations pertinent to the case, including the business in New Franklin where Biggs was killed and a Wayne County corn field where her body was found.

The attorneys, prosecutors and judge accompanied the jurors on the bus for this trip.

Defense attorneys oppose request for 30-day delay

Easter said LoPrinzi fell ill over the weekend and took two COVID tests Monday that were positive.

Easter said she informed the court about LoPrinzi’s test results. She said her head is hurting and she is coughing and short of breath. She said she took a COVID test that was negative.

Easter requested a 30-day continuance based on the requirements for quarantining and then for wearing a mask after that, as well as another commitment she had previously informed the court about.

Jeff Laybourne, who is representing Stefanko with attorney Angie Kille, said he is sorry to hear about their illness but would be opposed to that long of a delay.

“Ms. Stefanko has waited a long time for her retrial,” he said.

Laybourne suggested taking it day-by-day, with the trial possibly starting later this week or early next week when the prosecutors are feeling up to it.

Towell opted to go this route. She said the jurors were already told the trial might take two to three weeks.

“I’m not comfortable putting their lives on hold,” she said.

Towell brought in the 12 jurors and four alternates and told them about the new plan. She asked if any of them were feeling ill and one of woman indicated she was.

Towell again admonished the jurors not to read about or discuss the case while they wait for the trial to proceed.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Erica Stefanko's retrial in pizza delivery murder case is delayed