NEW FRANKLIN, Ohio — Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from previous, unrelated report.
A Rittman woman was sentenced in Summit County Common Please Court on Tuesday for her role in the 2012 murder of 25-year-old Ashley Biggs.
38-year-old Erica Stefanko was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison by Judge Amy Corrigall Jones.
“Erica Stefanko eluded justice for more than nine years. In this case, justice delayed is not justice denied,” said Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.
Stefanko pleaded guilty to aggravated murder related to Biggs' death on November 25.
“I am proud of the perseverance of investigators and my assistant prosecutors who would not stop fighting for Ashley Biggs and her family. Just over nine years after Ashley was murdered, Erica Stefanko is being held accountable for what she did," said Prosecutor Walsh.
According to reports on June 20, 2012, Stefanko lured Biggs to an empty parking lot of a closed business in New Franklin by ordering pizza to the location. Biggs delivered the pizza and was tased by Stefanko's accomplice and then-husband, Chad Cobb, who then beat and fatally strangled her.
Stefanko then followed Cobb as she drove Bigg's body to an empty field in Chippewa Township in Wayne County. The two then returned home where Cobb washed off evidence of the crime.
It was later learned that Cobb and Biggs were going through a "very contentious" custody battle over their then 7-year-old daughter.
In 2013, Cobb pleaded guilty to the following charges related to Biggs' death:
In February of 2013, Cobb pleaded guilty to the charges listed below. He is currently serving a life sentence and is not eligible for parole.
- One Count of Aggravated Murder – a felony of the 1st degree
- One Count of Kidnapping – a felony of the 1st degree
- One Count of Aggravated Robbery – a felony of the 1st degree
- One Count of Felonious Assault – a felony of the 2nd degree
- One Count of Retaliation – a felony of the 3rd degree
- One Count of Tampering with Evidence – a felony of the 3rd degree
- One Count of Gross Abuse of a Corpse – a felony of the 3rd degree
- One Count of Possessing Criminal Tools – a felony of the 5th degree
- Domestic Violence – a misdemeanor of the 1st degree
Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.