NELSONVILLE – Jessica Pyke is feeling relief for the first time in almost three months.
On Tuesday, a 14-year-old Nelsonville boy pleaded guilty in Athens County Juvenile Court for recklessly killing Pyke s firstborn son while playing with a gun.
Eli Spangler was 11, when he was shot and killed on March 6.
On Monday, Pyke was sitting on her front porch, fidgeting with a cigarette and unable to wrap her mind around the fact that someone had finally been charged in Eli s death after weeks without answers.
Less than a day later, she watched as the friend who shot her son pleaded guilty in Judge Zach Saunders courtroom. The boy s father, Donald Platt, who was home the night Eli was killed, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, tampering with evidence and child endangerment, both third-degree felonies, according to the Athens County Prosecutor s Office.
Nelsonville Teen Charged With Homicide Over Shooting Death Of Young Boy woub.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from woub.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
An Athens County teenager was charged in connection to the March death of a Nelsonville boy.
Mason Platt, 14, of Nelsonville, was charged Friday in Athens County Juvenile Court with reckless homicide, a news release from the Athens County Prosecutorâs Office stated.
âPlatt is accused of recklessly causing the death of Eli Spangler by playing with a firearm,â according to the news release.
Spangler, 11, of Nelsonville, was killed on March 6 at a home in the city. Nelsonville Police Department officers were dispatched early that morning in response to reports of a juvenile being shot.
Police at the time arrived at a residence on Walnut Street in Nelsonville and began performing CPR on Spangler until Athens County EMS and Nelsonville Fire Department arrived and took over treatment. The boy was transported to OhioHealth OâBleness Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Charges against Richard Wilson, 51, of Stewart, the husband of the City of Nelsonvilleâs ex-deputy auditor, Stephanie Wilson, were dropped Monday in Athens County Common Pleas Court.
The prosecution alleges that, in addition to the large sum of money already taken by Stephanie Wilson, at least another $45,000 in fraudulent tax returns were also withdrawn, an Athens County Prosecutorâs Office media release stated.
Stephanie Wilsonâs March 8 indictment notes that she allegedly filed and processed inaccurate tax returns for her husbandâs company, Wilson Construction.
Stephanie Wilson later allegedly created fake businesses for the purpose of collecting tax returns from Nelsonville. The ex-deputy auditor then reportedly opened bank accounts to deposit checks written by the city to these businesses, and then she closed the accounts.
Athens NEWS Editor
The Athens County Prosecutorâs Office and Athens County Sheriffâs Office confirmed that a social media post made by a person claiming to be Serah Bellar, a former Amesville youth who was reported missing last year, was made by Bellar herself.
Bellar was reported missing in April of 2020 and was last spotted in the Millfield area, according to the Ohio Attorney Generalâs Office database of missing people.
Per the database, she was labeled as an âendangered runaway,â and she was 16 at the time of her disappearance. She is now 18 years old.
However, Bellar posted on Monday under the profile name âDelilah Rose Priceâ that she left the area on her own accord and is currently safe, living âout Westâ with a friend.