John Jefferson
A 20-year-old woman on Monday pleaded guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge just before opening statements were set to begin in a trial for the 2023 stabbing death of a 17-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio.
Bryanna Barozzini faces up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine when she is sentenced on July 11. She admitted to stabbing Halia Culbertson outside a smoke shop on March 26, 2023.
Prosecutors originally charged Barozzini with murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors on Monday morning dropped the murder charge and were prepared to go ahead with the manslaughter case at trial. But by the afternoon, prosecutors came to a deal with Barozzini pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Her defense attorney is asking for probation while prosecutors are requesting the maximum of three years.
Franklin County Judge Mark Serrott said he is leaning toward sending Barozzini to prison with the possibility she is released early for good behavior.
Bryanna Barozzini, right, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 17-year-old Halia Culbertson, left, outside a Columbus, Ohio, smoke shop in March 2023. (Barozzini: Law&Crime Network; Culbertson: GoFundMe)
During a statement of facts read in court Monday, prosecutors said Culbertson and Barozzini were in the midst of an ongoing feud. Culbertson and a few of her friends were at the 161 Carryout smoke shop in northeast Columbus around 11:48 p.m. when Barozzini and another man showed up. Culbertson reportedly started yelling at Barozzini and challenged the now-convicted felon to a fight outside.
Prosecutors said Culbertson left the store and waited for Barozzini outside where the confrontation continued. When Culbertson slapped her in the face, prosecutors say Barozzini took out a knife and stabbed the victim once in the neck. Paramedics rushed Culbertson to the hospital where she later died.
Columbus police went to Barozzini’s home in nearby Westerville where they reportedly found the clothes she was wearing in the washing machine. They also found the knife hidden in a crawl space, prosecutors said. Cops arrested Barozzini and took her to jail. She’s been out ever since she posted a $750,000 bond.
Serrott also said Monday he would have admitted some of Barozzini’s text messages that could be seen as incriminating and undercut her self-defense argument.
She reportedly texted someone: “I’d sooner slice [Culbertson’s] throat if she ever comes near me again” and “I will cut that b—- on my whole family she if she tries showing up to my family’s home again.”
A GoFundMe described Culbertson as the “most loving and outgoing person, she cared for all close to her and she was loved by all of us dearly.”
Barozzini is a Westerville North High School graduate and was attending Columbus State at the time of the stabbing.
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