On March 31, 2015, Marie Belcastro, aged 94, was murdered in her Niles, Ohio home by Jacob Larosa, her 15-year-old neighbor. Larosa, who had numerous prior cases in juvenile court, had been released from a juvenile detention facility hours before. He broke into Belcastro’s residence, and, using a MAG flashlight, beat her to death. Larosa also attempted to rape Belcastro. In 2018, Larosa pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, attempted rape, and aggravated murder. Later that year, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2021, a new Ohio law, Senate Bill 256, retroactively reduced his sentence, making him eligible for parole after 25 years. The change to Larosa’s sentence has led to controversy and calls for changes to Senate Bill 256. As of 2022, Larosa’s parole hearing is scheduled for 2040.
Background
Marie Belcastro
Marie Rose Belcastro (nee Conti) was born on September 9, 1920. She graduated from Niles McKinley High School in 1939 and married her husband Fred in 1941. Belcastro worked at Packard Electric during World War II, and as a Trumbull County School Bus driver and aide. She had two daughters and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and had lived alone since her husband's death in 1989. Belcastro enjoyed house plants, playing cards, fly fishing, spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and traveling with her daughters.
At the time of her death, Belcastro was approximately four feet, seven to eight inches tall and weighed around 80-85 pounds.
Jacob Larosa
Jacob Larosa was born on July 27, 1999. He was diagnosed with low-average to below-average intelligence, as well as attention deficit disorder, and was identified as having bipolar with cannabis dependence. He did not have a good relationship with his birth father and had a strained relationship with his stepfather.
Prior to murdering Belcastro, Larosa had a history of behavior problems and dealings with the Trumbull County Juvenile Court. Complaints against him had been filed on several occasions. In one instance, he threw a mason jar candle at his seven-year-old sister. The jar struck the girl’s eye, requiring 18 stitches. Before the murder of Belcastro, Larosa had stayed in juvenile detention on five separate occasions. He also had stayed at multiple facilities aimed at treating addiction and substance abuse, though none proved successful for him. While at one such facility, he committed multiple infractions. These included: threatening violence against another resident; masturbating and not cleaning up after himself; punching another youth in the jaw, and using another youth’s computer to send sexually explicit emails to a teacher. Additionally, he was found with a school computer in his room and admitted that he liked to look at women while masturbating. Larosa’s behavior was so deviant, that his parents locked the doors within their house at night to keep him from stealing from family members and his stepfather began sleeping with a gun under his pillow due to concerns about his violent tendencies.
Larosa’s residence was directly across Belcastro’s, separated by an alleyway. Before her death, Belcastro knew Larosa and had reportedly always been kind to him.
Murder
On the morning of March 31, 2015, Larosa was released from the Juvenile Justice Center after being detained for a probation violation. Shortly after 5:00 pm, he broke into Belcastro’s home and murdered her.
There were effectively three separate and distinct crime scenes in Belcastro’s home. In the living room, Larosa grabbed a MAG flashlight and struck Belcastro. He then dragged her to the dining room area, where he continued to beat her and rifled through her purse, emptying its contents onto the floor. Next, Larosa dragged Belcastro to a bedroom, placed her onto the bed, and attempted to rape her bleeding, battered, yet still-alive body. Belcastro ultimately died of blunt craniocerebral trauma.
At some point during the crimes, Larosa entered Belcastro’s basement and stole items, including alcohol. There is no known motive for Larosa’s murder of Belcastro. Larosa would later brag to other inmates at the Juvenile Justice Center that he wanted to “hide her body and save her for later” and that he “saw her brains”.