Steven Andrew Osborne, 19, of 529 Federal Road, Little Hocking, was indicted Wednesday on four felonies, the most egregious including gun specifications. Sierah Caldwell, 18, of 3719 Blue Knob Road, Apt. B., Marietta, was indicted in the same case on three felony charges: attempted murder, a first-degree felony; felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

Five days following an assault that hospitalized Devon Ours, a Washington County Grand Jury indicted both a Little Hocking man and a Marietta woman Wednesday for attempted murder.

Steven Andrew Osborne, 19, of 529 Federal Road, Little Hocking, was indicted Wednesday on four felonies, the most egregious including gun specifications.

Osborne faces charges of attempted murder, a first-degree felony; felonious assault, a second-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and having weapons under a disability, a third-degree felony.

Washington County Prosecutor Nicole Coil said Wednesday night that the charges were added both to Osborne and Marietta resident Sierah Caldwell this week when the grand jury met.

“We reported at 11:45 a.m. so everything is public now,” she said. “We added additional charges, he now has in addition to the felonious assault which was the original complaint, now he’s been charged with attempted murder, tampering with evidence and weapons under disability.”

The final weapons under disability charge was applicable, according to Coil, due to a past felony aggravated assault conviction out of Tennessee against Osborne.

Coil also noted gun specifications added to both the F-1 and F-2 charges against Osborne, that are not included in the indictment against Caldwell, 18, of 3719 Blue Knob Road, Apt. B., Marietta.

“That was the girl at the center of the controversy,” explained Coil. “It’s an issue of her being complicit in what happened.”

See the Times’ coverage of the alleged assault that put Devin Ours on the floor of Caldwell’s apartment bleeding from the head by reviewing Monday’s edition: ‘Osborne arraigned on assault charge.’

Caldwell was indicted in the same case on three felony charges: attempted murder, a first-degree felony; felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.

“He used a gun in the commission of the crime so he’s also got two specifications,” said Coil.

Coil said Caldwell was complicit in the events that put Ours in the hospital and thus faces the same charges, minus the disability and gun specifications.

There is another person involved in the case, a juvenile. Coil said a hearing is scheduled for March 3 to determine if the juvenile will be tried as an adult.

Community impact

Social media, including Tik Tok and Snapchat–mobile platforms predominately used by younger generations and those not yet adults– are also a focus in this case.

“Tik Tok especially,” noted Coil. “I don’t think anyone’s family would want there to be any further violence and, in relation to this situation, I think the only thing that anyone should be doing at this point is to pray for all of the families that are involved. That’s the only thing that anyone should be doing and I hope that everyone learns from this, and realizes how fragile life is, and people really need to think before they act.”

Following reports of Snapchat and Tik Tok traffic concerning the assault, mentors of teens in Belpre and Marietta city school districts, the Washington County Career Center (where Caldwell attended) and Warren Local Schools have raised concerns about the dialogue online surrounding the case.

“It does concern me that there is almost a sense that this is not real to some of these individuals that have been indicted,” Coil acknowledged. “I just feel like there’s almost a sense that they don’t fully grasp what they’ve done at this point …We can’t change what’s already happened. All we can do is try to do the best that we can going forward. And I just hope that they learn from this situation and no one makes it worse than it already is.”

What’s next

Coil outlined Wednesday the next steps in the cases which will follow the judicial system’s predetermined timeline of events moving forward.

“The next thing will be an arraignment for each of the individuals who were indicted,” she explained. “And they will receive different dates for their case … basically it’s a schedule for how their cases are going to go.”

Publicly, those dates will include a pretrial hearing date, final pretrial hearing date and a trial date scheduled, following today’s bond and arraignment hearings.

“There are some other things that obviously just involve the attorneys like discovery … but for the defendant, it’s on an arraignment, that pre-trial, final pre-trial and the trial.”

Coil said an initial court date is likely to be scheduled for this summer, but due to the complexity of the case and multiple individuals involved she would expect such a date to be continued.