Patrick Mcmahon
Not only did 31-year-old Arturo Novoa kill his girlfriend Shannon Graves, say Ohio prosecutors, but another woman took over facets of the dead woman’s life — living in her apartment, taking care of her dog, using her credit cards and driving her car.
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That woman is 34-year-old Katrina Layton, who was arrested and charged over the weekend along with Novoa. Their arrest came after a friend of Novoa’s found a corpse stuffed in a freezer that police presume to be Graves’, though identification of the body is ongoing at this time.
Novoa, of Youngstown, and Layton, of Campbell, both face charges of abuse of a corpse. Layton also faces charges of obstruction of justice. Both remain held on $1 million bond.
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Associated Press reports that Graves, 28, has been missing since February. She was dating Novoa at the time she disappeared, according to the Youngstown Vindicator.
Youngstown City Prosecutor Dana Lantz told the Vindicator that Layton moved in with Novoa in February, around the time of Graves’ disappearance. The two lived at Graves’ apartment on Mahoning Ave. in Youngstown.
Police say the freezer containing Graves’ body came from a home on East Ravenwood Ave. in Youngstown, where Novoa and/or Layton was paying rent, even though the home was empty and uninhabited save for the freezer and some furniture.
Novoa allegedly gave the freezer to a friend, claiming there were “electrical problems” at the home on East Ravenwood Avenue. That friend opened the padlocked freezer – which police say had been incorrectly locked – and found the body inside.
