Amanda LeeAnn Hartleben: Family of NC woman found dead in cottage she shared with BF 'upset' by his plea deal
KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA: On the final day of his trial, a North Carolina man was seen smiling in court after he pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge in the death of his girlfriend Amanda LeeAnn Hartleben in 2020.
According to Fox News, John 'Jay' Curtis Tolson was sentenced to four years and eight months to six years and eight months in prison after he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.
Who is John Curtis Tolson?
In October 2020, Tolson was arrested and charged in connection with the death of his girlfriend in July 2020.
The 38-year-old mother-of-two was found unresponsive in a bathtub in a cottage in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
LeeAnn Hartleben's family not satisfied with John Tolson's statement
Hartleban's cousin, Trisha Cahoon, took to Facebook to post a statement on Tolson's conviction.
"It’s over. Healing can now start if there is such a thing," the post began.
"[LeeAnn] is with us in our hearts and Jay Tolson is going to prison. … I really feel we put someone away that will think every day [sic] what he took from all of us," the statement continued.
"Hopefully one day he can admit to us all what actually happened that day but I don’t foresee that happening," read the statement.
Expressing the family's disappointment with the way the death case was handled, Cahoon slammed the Kitty Hawk Police Department and North Carolina 1st Prosecutorial District Attorney Jeffrey Cruden in a Facebook video she posted on Sunday, September 3.
Cahoon claimed that the authorities would not have conducted a complete investigation if the victim's family had not taken to social media to bring attention to the suspicious circumstances surrounding Hartleben's death.
She stated that even while her cousin was being treated in the hospital after her boyfriend reportedly discovered her unconscious in the bathtub, the family "demanded" that the authorities conduct an investigation into the crime scene.
In the Kitty Hawk cottage where Hartleben and Tolson stayed, blood was found on her bed.
Cahoon stated that she and her family were contacted the night before the defendant's plea by the lawyers requesting them to "accept" the agreement's outcome.
In the video, Cahoon said, "The family is upset. They're outraged. But did we accept that plea? Absolutely, we accepted that plea, because we got screwed."
What led to Amanda LeeAnn Hartleben's death?
According to Hartleben's autopsy report, she died on July 25, 2020, due to "complications of blunt force trauma to the head."
In connection to the murder trial, assistant medical examiner Dr Nicole Masian who works with the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner testified that the victim had bruises on her body and suffered a brain bleed.
The examiner suggested that the injuries suggested Hartleben was "engaged in a physical struggle" at the time of her tragic death.