Cleveland woman pleads guilty to May 2022 fatal shooting at Wedgewood apartments

A Cleveland-area woman will spend at least 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2022 fatal shooting.

Nachyla Halton, 20, entered a guilty plea Thursday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to a single count of voluntary manslaughter in the May 2022 death of 19-year-old Jazmine Chester.

Judge Bill Sperlazza ordered Halton to serve 14-19 ½ years in prison.

Halton's case previously was scheduled to go to trial in July.

Chester was found with a gunshot wound to her face inside an apartment at Wedgewood Village. Police went to her apartment after nobody saw or heard from Chester since May 19 and a family member asked for a welfare check.

Prior to Chester's death, witnesses saw her with Halton, who lived in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid.

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The Dispatch reported at the time Halton was charged that video showed Halton and Chester walking into the apartment building around 2:10 a.m. May 19. Halton had a bag with her and left more than an hour later, according to the video.

Chester had a 2-year-old son who was left with a babysitter. The child stayed with the babysitter until the following weekend, when a missing persons report was filed and authorities went to check on her and found her dead.

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Detectives interviewed Halton in Cleveland; she denied being in Columbus at the time Chester was shot and refused to speak to detectives any further after they asked her what kind of car she owned at the time of the shooting.

bbruner@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cleveland woman admits to killing local 19-year-old mother in May 2022