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E Indiana woman gets 55 years in slaying of child s father
May 4, 2021
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PORTLAND, Ind. (AP) A judge sentenced an eastern Indiana woman to 55 years in prison Tuesday after a jury convicted her of murder in the shooting death of her child’s father
A jury found Esther J. Stephen, 30, of Portland guilty of murder in March in the Jan. 12, 2020, shooting death of Shea Briar, 31.
Court documents said Stephen and 19-year-old Shelby Hiestand picked up Briar at his Portland home and drove him to a rural bridge. Once there, Stephen distracted Briar while Hiestand shot him in the back with a .22-caliber rifle.
Now, the riddle was who wanted the popular young man dead?
Detectives began combing through every aspect of Briar’s life, friends, family, feuds. But the quest for the killers wasn’t going to be anything like the quest for the Holy Grail.
Briar had been seeking visitation rights for the child he had with Fort Recovery (Ohio) High School softball coach Esther Stephen, 29. Shea Briar wanted more time with the child he shared with Stephen. Photo by HANDOUT /GOFUNDME
According to court documents, Briar had asked for more time with the child they shared and he wanted its name changed to boot. Esther Stephen, apparently, was having none of it.
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Esther Stephen; Shelby-Hiestand
A former softball coach from Ohio is facing trial in 2021 on charges that she and the assistant coach conspired to kill her child s father earlier this year.
According to local news station WHIO, Fort Recovery High School ex-head softball coach Esther Stephen, 29, and assistant coach Shelby Hiestand, 18, have been accused of killing Shea Briar, 31, who died from a gunshot wound on January 12 in Portland, Indiana. Get push notifications with news, features and more. + Follow
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Stephen s murder trial is set to begin on March 15, while Hiestand’s trial is set to begin on August 9, WHIO reported.