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WARREN -- The Austintown man accused of stabbing a man to death in Girard on July 30 agreed to a plea deal on Tuesday with prosecutors in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Cole P. Conti, 21, of Cannon Road, appeared with his attorney, Ron Yarwood, to plead guilty to a first-degree felony charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Judge Ronald J. Rice revoked Conti's bond of $750,000 and sent him to the probation office for a background investigation prior to sentencing, which will take place at 8:45 a.m. Jan. 5, 2023. The plea hearing offset a trial scheduled to begin Dec. 5 in Rice's court.
Conti now faces a potential sentence from three to 16 1/2 years.
Conti is accused of stabbing William Lowry five times on the morning of July 30 in the 500 block of Trumbull Avenue in Girard.
Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow said the defendant was at a gathering at the Girard home when the victim and his girlfriend showed up. Conti and Lowry got into an argument that resulted in Conti stabbing Lowry five times, causing his death.
According to police reports, Conti was arrested early that morning after he told Girard police he had stabbed Lowry, after Lowry punched one of the men he was with in the face.
The three men started to fight, and Cole admitted to taking a knife and stabbing Lowry multiple times, according to a police report.
The knife was recovered as evidence and Morrow said that would have been used against Conti at trial, as well as body cam video of the defendant's statements and testimony from Girard police officers.
The mother of the victim, Sherry Lowry, told the judge she objected to the plea deal, saying she and her family believe her son was murdered.
"He's not here to defend himself, and we can't agree with the sentencing range where the least he can get would be three years," she said.
The judge told the mother she will be allowed to speak again during the sentencing hearing for Conti, who remains in the Trumbull County jail.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com