ASHTABULA COUNTY, Ohio — It’s been five years since a 1-year-old Conneaut girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her mother’s boyfriend Joshua Gurto.
After half a decade of the case being open, a motion has been filed for a plea agreement for Gurto.
Serenity Jazzlynn-Sky Sutely was just 13 months old at the time.
Sutley died from blunt force trauma to the head, according to investigators.
Court records indicate Ashtabula County's Prosecuting Attorney Colleen O’Toole filed a motion for a plea agreement.
In a statement to 3News Thursday afternoon, O’Toole said, “A plea agreement allows the defendant to be held accountable for the crimes and adds certainty to the outcome. There is no certainty in the outcome of a trial and no finality in the appeals process."
It is unclear what is in the plea agreement.
According to recent court filings, the judge has decided to have the proposed plea agreement sealed, meaning it cannot be viewed by the public.
“This is actually is not that unusual of an order in this type of a high-profile and a capital case,” Senior Instructor of Law at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law, Michael Benza said.
Benza analyzed court records with 3News Thursday, saying the next hearing, a status hearing, is also closed to the public. That's where plea negotiations will take place.
“Part of that status conference will be to address the terms of the plea agreement off the record or at least out of the public view,” Benza said. “Those are confidential because during that discussion the defendant may be giving information that, if used in the public or used at trial, would be incriminating. Then if the plea negotiations fail that information is reported by the media your jury pool is going to hear that.”
Court records filed Thursday also indicate the hearings will become public, as U.S. law requires, when plea negotiations conclude and a plea agreement is either accepted or denied by the judge.
Gurto, who was captured in Pennsylvania following an extensive manhunt in 2017, faces several charges, including aggravated murder and rape.
Benza said plea agreements don't happen without the family's support.
3News attempted to speak with the immediate family Thursday, who O’Toole said she’d been working with, but was unable to reach them.
This status hearing is set for October 14.
Editor's note: The video in the player above is from a previously published, related story.