ASHTABULA, Ohio — Protestors in Ashtabula are rallying weeks after prosecutors dropped several charges against Joshua Gurto, the man accused of raping and killing 13-month-old Sereniti Jazzlynn-Sky Sutley in Conneaut in 2017.
The protest is occurring in front of the office of Ashtabula County Prosecutor Colleen O'Toole. You can watch the protest in the video player above.
Last month, O'Toole filed to dismiss multiple charges against Gurto, who had originally been charged with two counts of aggravated murder and three counts of murder, unclassified felonies, one count of rape, a first-degree felony, one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and one count of domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to The Star Beacon.
On July 19, however, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss both aggravated murder charges and two of the three murder charges, the rape charge and the domestic violence charge, while amending the remaining murder charge to involuntary manslaughter. O'Toole said at the time that some of the charges were merged and that others were redundant.
“We’re looking to present exactly what the evidence presents, and get a conviction on exactly what the evidence will present at trial,” O’Toole, per The Star Beacon “We want to put our best case forward, and this represents it.”
Family members of Sereniti, who was the daughter of Gurto's girlfriend at the time of her death, were displeased with the change in his charges. He currently faces a maximum sentence of 19 years in prison as a result of the amended charges.
Earlier this year, Gurto was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to a separate rape case.