Katrina Layton, right, stands with attorney Lynn Maro in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday after Layton learned she would spend 18 years in prison for her role in covering up the killing of Shannon Graves and helping dispose of Graves’ body. Staff photos / Ed Runyan

YOUNGSTOWN — Katrina Layton kept her head mostly down as Judge Anthony Donofrio began to explain the 18-year prison sentence he imposed Wednesday for her covering up the murder of Shannon Graves.

Layton’s boyfriend Arturo Novoa committed the murder, and she helped him dispose of the body.

“This whole situation is just unbelievable,” Donofrio said after hearing lengthy presentations from a prosecutor and defense attorney in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

“The evidence has shown … that Miss Layton assisted co-defendant (Novoa) concealing a murder that he admitted to, providing the location of the dismemberment of the body of Shannon Graves, concealed evidence and provided false information to detective (Mike) Lambert as to what happened to Shannon Graves in an effort to protect” Novoa, he said.

“She purchased 12 gallons of sulfuric acid from Walmart to dispose of parts of the victim’s body” and helped Novoa move a storage container holding parts of Graves’ body, he said. The body parts were eventually found in a freezer in the basement of a home in Campbell.

Novoa, 33, was sentenced to 48 years to life in prison last year. Layton, 37, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors that called for her to get probation and no prison time for her testimony against Novoa.

But prosecutors succeeded in getting that plea revoked and having her plead guilty earlier this month to four counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of abuse of a corpse.

One of the reasons for having her earlier plea revoked was testimony that she violated the terms of her plea agreement by participating in 37 phone calls with the imprisoned Novoa.

“She purchased a freezer with Novoa and stored the (body parts) of the victim in this freezer, and she rented a house just to place that freezer in to avoid detection and then assisted in the moving of that freezer to Campbell,” the judge said.

“These were sinister acts. They were disgusting. They were immoral, and were beyond comprehension,” he said, adding: “I can’t get over how horrendous these facts were.”

The judge gave Layton the maximum sentence on most of the charges, giving her two years less than the 20 that Dan Kasaris, assistant Ohio attorney general, sought. Layton’s attorneys asked for 10.

Defense attorney Lynn Maro tried to convince the judge that despite Layton’s bad actions, she still provided 60 percent of the evidence investigators had.

Debbie DePaul, Graves’ half sister, gave a victim impact statement, telling Donofrio that Shannon was “a beautiful girl inside and out” and “was caring and compassionate too, helping her friends when they were in need.”

She once flew to Las Vegas and spent two to three months with a girlfriend who was on the verge of suicide. She let people stay with her “until they could get back on their feet,” she said.

But she also “hung out with a rough crowd, which unfortunately brought us to this point,” she said. “Shannon was 4-foot-11 and about 98 pounds,” DePaul said. “She was a pretty little girl with a big personality.”

The only defendant whose case is still pending is Andrew A. Herrmann, 28, who is accused of helping Novoa mutilate and hide Graves’ body, as well as burning her belongings. Herrmann is expected to plead guilty Feb. 27.

erunyan@tribtoday.com