A hearing was held for the man accused of aggravated murder in the death of Shannon Graves who was found in a freezer in July.

The murder victim's family is outraged that the murder charge has been dismissed against that man's co-defendant and a deal cut so she faces lesser charges to testify against him.

Thirty-one-year-old Arturo Novoa will go on trial on August 5th.  

Novoa's attorneys have filed a motion wanting to get copies of jail telephone calls between their client and his co-defendant, Katrina Layton, as well as co-defendant Katrina Layton's criminal history.

Novoa faces charges of aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse for allegedly killing and dismembering Shannon Graves.

The missing woman's body was discovered in a freezer in Campbell in late July.

Her entire body has still not been found.  But she was identified through fingerprints and DNA.

But Novoa's co-defendant and girlfriend Katrina Layton, who was also  charged with aggravated murder, has now been released from jail.

She's agreed to testify against Novoa, has given a statement about Novoa's alleged role in the case and pled to lesser charges of abuse of a corpse, and obstruction of justice.

Ronnie DePaul is the victim's father and he tells 21 News the family was never notified about court hearings, let alone Layton's plea deal.

Along with his daughter Debbie DePaul, he talked to prosecutors about his concerns after the hearing.  "I would have never agreed to that.  That's what we were just talking about in the courtroom. Why she did that without notifying us," Ronnie DePaul said.

The victim's family accuses prosecutors of not following Marsy's Law which provides equal rights to the victim's of crimes, saying they all should be notified of every court proceeding.  In this case, the victim's family says they were never notified of any plea negotiations or the plea agreement with Katrina Layton. However, Dawn Cantalamessa, the prosecutor, in this case, tells 21 News the family was notified of the plea deal.

Debbie DePaul, the murder victim's sister, said, "No we didn't know anything about it.  We didn't agree to anything.  So she's basically free.  She can do whatever she wants to do. Just live her life.  There are some guidelines they said, but what is that after all of this?  She was more involved than to just let her be free."

Prosecutors say it is up to the victim witness division to inform the victim's loved ones about hearing dates and trials.  When 21 News asked a member of the victim witness staff, who was in the courtroom for another case, if they knew if murder victim Shannon Graves' family members were in the courtroom, she said, "I'm sorry I have no idea who that is."

In her defense, there are a number of victim-witness representatives to represent the loved ones of those impacted by crime in Mahoning County.