By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Bowling Green man accused of murdering a woman and her unborn child entered pleas of not guilty to all charges this afternoon during his video arraignment.
Jimmy David Cole, 30, was indicted last week for the murder of Alicia Rosa, 23, and her unborn son, Amor, of Bowling Green. Rosa was found with several stab wounds in her apartment on North Main Street on March 30.
Cole has been charged with three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of tampering with evidence.
He was represented Thursday in Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman’s courtroom by attorney Scott Coon.
Rows of Rosa’s family members sat quietly in the courtroom, and did not talk with media after the arraignment.
Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson told the court that Cole poses a “substantial flight risk,” since he was apprehended while wanted on another warrant, had few ties to the community, and listed his address as the scene of the murder, where he was not on the lease.
Dobson asked that bail be set at $500,000 with 100% needed for release.
Kuhlman agreed, and cautioned that if Cole is released on bail that he wear a GPS monitor and have no contact with Rosa’s family members. A pretrial has been set for May 25.
Rosa was found by family at her apartment at 326 N. Main St., on the afternoon of March 30. When Bowling Green Police Division arrived on the scene, a family member was performing CPR.
Cole was arrested on March 31 in Fostoria on an outstanding warrant.
Rosa and her unborn child were determined to have died as a result of several stab wounds. She was reportedly in a relationship with Cole and it is believed that the child she was carrying was Cole’s, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.
Rosa, also known as Alicia Rosa Confer, was a 2017 graduate of Bowling Green High School, and was currently working at Daymark in Bowling Green.
The first two counts of murder allege that Cole purposefully caused the death of Rosa and her unborn child. The third murder offense is charged “in the alternative,” meaning that, should Cole be convicted of all three, he would only be sentenced on two of the three murder charges. Count three charges Cole with causing the death of Rosa as a proximate result of committing the offense of felonious assault. Counts four and five allege that Cole caused or attempted to cause physical harm to Rosa and her unborn child by means of a deadly weapon. The final count alleges that Cole took steps to destroy or conceal evidence of his other offenses.
Each count of murder carries a penalty of life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 15 years. The felonious assault offenses carry penalties of up to eight years, and the tampering with evidence offense carries a penalty of up to three years. With certain offenses merging at sentencing, should Cole be convicted of all charges and all possible sentences run consecutively, he would face a maximum prison sentence of 33 years to life.
