Teenager kills woman in rape and offers to help with the funeral

Samuel Hochstetler was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison and was required to register as a Level III violent offender and sexual offender, according to a statement released by the Meigs County Prosecutor's Office last Friday.

The same note indicated that the teenager's trial, which ended with the admission of guilt, would begin the following Monday, July 27th.

According to the indictment, Rosanna Kinsinger “died from positional asphyxiation while Hochstetler was having non-consensual sexual intercourse with her.” Along these lines, “Hochstetler deliberately caused the death of Rosanna Kinsinger while committing rape.”

On March 12, 2025, the young woman was working with the teenager and others to build a greenhouse, according to Court TV.

“The accused and Rosanna were not dating, were not in a relationship, were not together, did not meet, nor did they have a casual sexual relationship”, highlighted prosecutor James Stanley, who added that, according to witnesses, Kinsinger did not particularly like Hochstetler, despite the individual being “behaving in a way that appeared to be showing off to Rosanna or trying to flirt with her”.

When he didn't show up for work, friends and neighbors went to his caravan, where they came across a goat, which had allegedly entered through the back door. Rosanna was found in the bedroom, naked, lying on her stomach and bent over the bed. The teenager then took on “the responsibility of being the one to tell Rosanna’s father that she had died”.

"The Public Prosecutor's Office considers that, in addition to raping and murdering Rosanna, perhaps the cruelest thing he did happened next, when he offered to go to the Kinsinger farm to help them with chores and prepare the barn for her funeral. Not only did he help, but he was a welcome guest in their house. And he wasn't just a guest during the day; he was a guest during the night and spent there Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night, after he murdered Rosanna. The parents and brothers of Rosanna had no idea that they had welcomed her killer into their home and that he was right there, with them, the entire time they mourned her loss,” he stated.

Stanley detailed that the young woman was the victim of a violent sexual assault, having died during the attack. “We believe that the evidence shows that the rapist either pinned her face to the blankets or covered her face with the blankets with such force that it dislocated her lower jaw,” he concluded.

The defense, in turn, argued that the asphyxiation was the “result of his lack of experience”, suggesting that it was an accident.

"I apologize for everything I did. I wish I could go back to those days and build a different life. I don't know how to fully express how sorry I am about all of this," said the teenager, in a brief statement before the court.