Young Westerville woman pleads to manslaughter for fatally stabbing teen girl
A young woman took a plea deal Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to avoid a trial for fatally stabbing a teen girl last year.
Bryanna Barozzini, now 20, of Westerville, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for killing 17-year-old Halia Culbertson, of Sunbury, during a March 2023 altercation outside a smoke shop.
Prosecuting attorneys called it a fight. Barozzini's defense attorney, Robert Krapenc, called it an assault by Culbertson and said he would have argued at trial his client acted in self-defense. Barozzini was 18 at the time.
Barozzini’s trial was set to begin this week. Franklin County prosecuting attorneys had dropped two counts of murder earlier Monday and were going to proceed only on a single voluntary manslaughter charge. Attorneys were about to begin jury selection in the afternoon when Barozzini indicated she would take the plea offer.
Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott will sentence Barozzini in July. She will remain free on bond until then. She faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 but could get probation, as her attorney is seeking. If she had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter at trial, she would have faced between three and 11 years in prison.
Serrott told Barozzini in court Monday that he is leaning toward giving her prison time.
Assistant Prosecutor Trenten Grohe said in court that the two girls had an ongoing feud and happened to run into each other late on March 26, 2023, at the store in the 5600 block of Emporium Square in the Northland area. Each girl was there with friends.
Grohe said Culbertson, who was unarmed, challenged Barozzini to a fight outside. A video outside the shop taken by one of Culbertson's friends showed Culbertson slapping Barozzini before Barozzini stabbed Culbertson once in the neck, Grohe said.
Krapenc told The Dispatch Monday that Barozzini did not want to fight. He said after staff escorted Culbertson and her friends out of the store, they waited outside the shop so Culbertson could assault Barozzini.
"(Outside, Culbertson) aggressively approached my client, who continued to back up, saying, 'I don't want to fight; you're not worth it.' But (Culbertson) would not stop," Krapenc said. "At one point, my client produced a knife and displayed it so the assailant would see the knife. That didn't stop her. (Culbertson) kept coming ... (Culbertson) struck my client in the face. My client realized (Culbertson) was not going to stop, so my client swung the knife."
Despite being mortally wounded, Culbertson continued to beat Barozzoni and knocked Barozzoni to the ground, Krapenc said.
Krapenc had previously filed notice that they would be arguing at trial that Barozzoni acted in self-defense. Krapenc had also filed a motion asking the judge to prevent prosecuting attorneys from showing the jury certain text messages Barozzoni sent a week before the stabbing.
According to court records, the texts include "I'd sooner slice (Culbertson's) throat if she comes near me again" and "I will cut that (expletive) on my whole family if she tries showing up to my family's home again."
Serrott said in court he would have allowed attorneys to present those text messages, which would "certainly not be helpful for your case."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Westerville young woman pleads to manslaughter for stabbing teen girl
