May 14, 2026 By Mike Jones 3 min read

Defense attorneys for the Greene County woman accused of killing a man whose badly charred body was found in a burned-out vehicle in East Finley Township five years ago are trying to get the death penalty taken off the table before she heads to trial.

Pittsburgh-based attorneys Wendy Williams and Bill Difenderfer filed the motion last month in Washington County Court of Common Pleas asking President Judge Valarie Costanzo to remove capital punishment as an option against Star Dawn Lowery-Rutan, who is facing homicide charges.

The defense attorneys wrote in their filing that Gov. Josh Shapiro has continued an existing moratorium on the death penalty since taking office in 2023, while also accusing Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh of pursuing capital cases for political purposes.

“In Washington County there is a factual basis to believe District Attorney Jason Walsh pursues the death penalty for political reasons, which would be unconstitutional,” the motion states, alluding to the nearly dozen death penalty cases the prosecutor sought when he became acting district attorney in August 2021 until his election to the full-time role in late 2023.

Lowery-Rutan, 46, of Rices Landing, is accused of killing 40-year-old Thomas Ringer on May 16, 2021, by torching a minivan with him inside that was found on state game lands in East Finley Township. An autopsy revealed Ringer was likely alive when the vehicle was set on fire, and that he died of thermal injuries and smoke inhalation. Investigators previously said they found a used cigarette near the burned-out vehicle with DNA on it tying Lowery-Rutan to the scene.

Lowery-Rutan was arrested in December 2021 on charges of homicide, arson, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse, and has been held without bond at the Washington County jail since that time while awaiting trial.

Walsh said it was a “standard request” for the defense’s attempt to disqualify the death penalty as an option if Lowery-Rutan is convicted of first-degree murder. He added that the prosecution is ready to proceed to trial, although he did not expect it would happen soon due to the number of motions the defense has presented.

“We’ve been ready to go from the get-go,” Walsh said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We’ve got all our evidence ready to go.”

In his April 2022 filing to seek the death penalty against Lowery-Rutan, Walsh cited aggravating factors that the homicide happened in the commission of a felony and the killing was by means of torture.

In addition to asking Costanzo to remove the death penalty as an option, the defense is also requesting that photographs of Ringer’s “severely charred” body at the scene and during autopsy should not be allowed at trial. The defense attorneys wrote that “attempting to introduce gory and inflammatory photographs” of the body could be prejudicial to the jury.

The status conference before Costanzo is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. May 21 in her courtroom in the Washington County Courthouse.