Trending
LISBON -- Probation with house arrest will be the recommendation when the woman charged with obstructing justice in her stepmother's homicide faces sentencing at 10 a.m. Nov. 17.
Alyssa McGuire, 30, Depot Road, Lisbon, pleaded guilty Monday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to the third-degree felony charge, along with charges from an unrelated incident for a fourth-degree felony of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and misdemeanors of obstruction of official business and endangering children.
The case for obstructing justice from the homicide investigation stemmed from what Alyssa McGuire told investigators on March 19, 2022, the day after her stepmother, 67-year-old Mary Ann McGuire, was shot to death at her Depot Road, Lisbon, home on March 18, 2022. Court documents from Columbiana County Municipal Court alleged that Alyssa McGuire failed to tell the truth about where she and Justin Givens had gone with their children and what they had done following the shooting.
Givens was recently sentenced to 23 years and one month to life in prison for murder, along with two counts of grand theft when the property is a firearm or dangerous ordnance, both third-degree felonies, two counts of tampering with evidence, both third-degree felonies, aggravated possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony, and endangering children, a first-degree misdemeanor, for killing Mary Ann McGuire and for actions after the shooting.
The other case against Alyssa McGuire stemmed from a Dec. 26, 2021 traffic stop on state Route 7 in Columbiana when weapons were found in the vehicle which was also inhabited by her children.
McGuire entered the guilty pleas before Judge Megan Bickerton, the same judge who sentenced Givens for the murder. Chief Assistant County Prosecutor Ryan Weikart said he'll recommend five years of probation or community control for the sentence for the two cases, but with a total of 180 days house arrest without electronic monitoring. The house arrest will require her to stay home, but will allow her to go to appointments, work, go to the grocery store and take her children to and from school.
He also said that "she has had ongoing counseling for some time now."
Bickerton reviewed all the charges with Allysa McGuire and explained that the possible penalty for the obstructing justice charge includes a maximum 36 months in prison. The other felony charge carries a possible maximum of 18 months in prison, with up to 90 days and up to 180 days for the remaining charges.
Allysa McGuire was accompanied by her defense attorney, Charley Kidder, who spoke about the negotiations which led to the plea agreement.
Family members of Mary Ann McGuire were in the courtroom for the plea.
mgreier@mojonews.com