Trending
LISBON -- The man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend after allegedly running her over last year in East Liverpool has new appointed counsel after his hired attorneys withdrew and he was declared indigent.
Cameron Martin, 20, Minerva Street, East Liverpool, appeared for a motion hearing in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Judge Megan Bickerton on Monday. A final status hearing remains set for 9 a.m. Oct. 19, with a jury trial set at 9 a.m. Oct. 27.
His defense attorneys, Bruce Williams and Christine Falconer, filed a motion July 30 asking for a court order allowing them to withdraw as Martin's hired legal counsel, citing a lack of cooperation by the defendant.
Bickerton granted their request, found Martin indigent and appointed James Wise and Joe King as his public defenders.
In their motion, Williams and Falconer said that Martin "has not cooperated with review of discovery, has not complied with numerous requests for information, and has now failed and refused to even meet with counsel to receive his entire file, including voluminous discovery materials, and to sign necessary documents."
Discovery is the sharing of evidence in a case.
"Unfortunately, given that communications have apparently broken down, together with the defendant's admitted inability to financially proceed, this motion became necessary," they wrote.
The state was represented by county Assistant Prosecutors Steve Yacovone and Jennifer Bonish.
The victim, Stephanie Householder, 21, died July 20, 2025, along with her unborn child, from injuries suffered in the pedestrian/motor vehicle crash on July 19, 2025 at the East Liverpool wharf.
Martin remains out of jail after posting a $100,000 cash or surety bond in the spring.
He's charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, and two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony, for allegedly causing Householder's death and the alleged unlawful termination of her pregnancy.
mgreier@mojonews.com