The Seneca Falls man who had his murder conviction vacated by a state Appellate Court last year and was scheduled to get his retrial next month has instead pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors say on May 12th, 2018, Donald Bovio beat his three-year-old stepson with a belt, causing the child’s head to hit a hard floor. He claimed the boy fell down a flight of stairs and struck his head. The Finger Lakes Times reports after Thursday’s guilty plea, Bovio will get somewhere between 18 and 25 years in prison when sentenced in March.
The victim’s mother, Alison Bovio, pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge as part of an agreement to cooperate in the case against her husband. She was sentenced in 2019 to 4-12 years in prison.
Alison Bovio on her way to arraignment in Seneca County Court in May 2018 on Murder, Manslaughter, and other charges. Photo by Greg Cotterill, Finger Lakes News Radio.
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