LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio — Murder charges have now been filed against Matthew Plas in Lorain County nearly 16 years after he attacked Shawn Stevens as she was walking at the Carlisle Reservation in an area known as the Duck Pond.
“Though justice has been delayed in this case, it will not be denied," Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson said in a press conference Friday morning. "We are going forward.”
The case dates back to May 6, 2008, when the prosecutor's office says Stevens was shot in the back, beaten, sexually assaulted, stuffed into the trunk of a car and left for dead behind an abandoned building.
"The gunshot wound that she suffered paralyzed her from the waist down," Tomlinson said.
You can watch the full press conference in the video below:
Plas was sentenced to serve 33 years in prison after pleading guilty in November 2009 to charges related to the attack.
He remains behind bars to this date.
After Stevens died on Dec. 28, 2019, at the age of 55, Tomlinson says the coroner ruled her death was due to complications caused by the original gunshot wound to her spine. Tomlinson says the case was then sent to former Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will for review, but never sent to the grand jury.
"Indeed, even after I was elected, though I was unaware of it, the Shawn Stevens matter stalled again," Tomlinson said.
Fast forward to late 2023, the Stevens family reached out to the prosecutor's office seeking an update on the status of the case.
"The file was then quickly located," Tomlinson said while noting the case was assigned for evaluation and referral to the grand jury.
Tomlinson said Plas was indicted on murder charges in the case last week.
“The reason we can bring this charge is because Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gauthier refused to plea bargain the first case," Tomlinson said. "And thus, when Shawn died we had the element we needed to charge the murder.”
Court records show Plas pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned in the murder case Thursday.
MORE FROM 3NEWS...
- Cold case solved: Willoughby police identify Stephen Joseph Simcak as killer in 1980 murder of Nadine Madger
- 78-year-old man sentenced to life in prison for 2 Northeast Ohio cold case murders from the 1970s
- 10 years since the murder of Stephen Halton Jr. in Cleveland: Authorities seek answers in cold case
- The unsolved murder of Amy Mihaljevic, 34 years later
- Mystery remains 10 years after Aliza Sherman was murdered in Cleveland
- Advanced DNA technology helps Cuyahoga County prosecutors convict man for 1997 rape
- Mystery in Akron: ‘John Doe’ images released after man’s remains found 8 years ago