Steubenville Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Pregnant Woman
Linda Harris Trending
A Steubenville man admitted Thursday to killing a pregnant 22-year-old woman, shooting her three times in the head in May 2022.
Joshua Jerome Woodland, 31, was sentenced by Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 29 years after pleading guilty to purposefully causing the death of Carol Jeanne Barnett with a firearm specification, and to involuntary manslaughter for the death of her unborn baby.
Bruzzese said the firearm specification carries a three-year prison sentence, to be served first, and then Woodland will begin serving his 15-years-to-life sentence for killing Barnett, followed by 11 years for causing the baby's death. All are mandatory.
Woodland will get credit for the 532 days he's already spent behind bars.
Before sentencing, Prosecutor Jane Hanlin told Bruzzese it was "one of the most senseless crimes I have ever seen."
"The explanation given was that Mr. Woodland believed that the victim had laced his marijuana with something and that's what made him do this," Hanlin said. "He shot her three times in the head. She was approximately three weeks pregnant at the time."
She said Woodland used a 9 mm Smith & Wesson to kill Barnett. A 2-year-old child was in the car with them at the time of the murders.
Hanlin said blood tests showed Woodland "was, I think, over twice the legal limit in terms of alcohol intoxication." She said they found THC in his system as well, pointing out that "none of those is a defense to the crime of murder or the crime of involuntary manslaughter."
Woodland's court-appointed attorney, Steven Stickles, said his client had "taken responsibility" for his actions.
"In all my dealings with him he's shown a great deal of remorse," he said, agreeing with the prosecutor it was a senseless crime. "He himself has basically stated that using different words."
A somber-looking Woodland himself told the judge, "I just want to get this over with."
Hanlin said afterward it was "a horrific and senseless loss of a mother and her unborn child."
"Mr. Woodland will now spend the rest of his life in prison as a consequence of the terrible choices he made that day," she said.