An Ohio substitute teacher is accused of offering a student $2,000 to kill her estranged husband before the teenager's mother caught wind of the murder-for-hire plot and alerted authorities.
Stephanie Demetrius, 44, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree conspiracy for the offer to a boy at The Academy For Urban Scholars High School in Columbus, WSYX reported.
Demetrius approached a student at the school on March 26 and offered $2,000 to carry out the murder of her soon-to-be ex-husband. The student was initially paid $250 in cash as a down payment.
"This particular teacher was attempting to groom this young person into committing murder," Columbus Division of Police Sgt. James Fuqua told WSYX.
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The plan was foiled when the student’s mom discovered texts on her son's phone between him and Demetrius. The teenager's mother then reported the incident to the police.
"Without their help, some of this might not have come to light," Fuqua said. "This was a situation where a parent was able to capture things inside this young person's phone and contact authorities."
In a recorded phone call between the student and Demetrius, the substitute teacher told the student that he would receive the remainder of the payment, saying she owed an additional "15."
The substitute teacher also gave the student information about when her children would be out of the home, so he could kill her estranged husband, who worked from home, court records show, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
"When asked if the neighbors would hear the gunfire, she advised that they don't care about the neighbors," court records state, the outlet reported.
Demetrius and her husband have been married since 2004 but were going through divorce proceedings, court records show.
She appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court on Thursday morning, with her public defender denying the allegations and criticizing them as fabrication.
Prosecutor Parker Schwartz said Demetrius's estranged husband had received a protection order against her. Schwartz also noted that Demetrius had exhibited "possessive and controlling behavior," had mental health issues and had previously made homicidal threats.
Court filings show she has previously been accused of assaulting her estranged husband and some of her children, setting a fire in her home's basement, smashing garage doors and damaging other property while the children were present and other threatening behavior, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Demetrius was released on a $150,000 bond and is barred from having any contact with her estranged husband or the student. She is due back in court on April 11.
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