Shayna Hubers guilty: 2nd conviction in murder of Ryan Poston 'Today we embrace justice'

Chris Mayhew | Cincinnati Enquirer

It took a jury only around five hours, again, to convict Shayna Hubers of murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend Ryan Poston.

Hubers leaned over in her chair and wept into the lap of her attorney Zachary Walden before the verdict was read.

Hubers mouthed words to her mother while the gallery was being seated.

"I love you," Hubers said silently.

Poston's father, Jay Poston, and Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass both declined comment after court recessed saying there were more proceedings from the case to come, referencing sentencing.

Snodgrass turned around and let out a closed mouth smile to Poston's family in the gallery as the jury walked out.

What came next happened in the courtroom was after the judge and jury were gone.

Sharon Hubers, Shayna's mother, knelt in the gallery's third row and folded her hands together after the verdict was read.

Snodgrass and her assistant prosecutor Kyle Burns hugged Poston's father, then Poston's mother. They proceeded to hug nearly all members of Poston's friends and family who filled the majority of the seats on the jury side of the gallery for most of the trial.

Sharon Hubers hugged her daughter's attorney David Eldridge in a tight embrace for at least two minutes.

The Campbell County jury was charged at 1:40 p.m. and came back with a decision around 6:45 p.m.

Of the 14 jurors, including the alternates, 11 were female and three were male. It took a jury five hours to convict Hubers in 2015 after a two-week trial.

The family of Ryan Poston issued a statement after the decision to convict Hubers was made.

Today we embrace justice, and yet we do not feel joy. It has been six long and heartbreaking years without our beloved Ryan.



The Poston and Carter families are eternally grateful for the hard work and dedication to justice of Campbell County Commonwealth Attorney Michelle Snodgrass, Assistant Campbell County Commonwealth Attorneys Sheryl Heeters and Kyle Burns, Police Chief Bill Birkenhauer, Officer Dave Fornash and Sergeant Nick Love of the Highland Heights Police Department, and their staffs -- all of whom are dedicated public servants in the truest sense.



Those who love Ryan now move forward with the integrity, dignity, and kindness that Ryan exemplified throughout his life.

The jury will reconvene at 9 a.m. for the sentencing phase of the trial. In the first trial, the jury sentenced Hubers to 40 years.

"You put six bullets in a person, you're going to have to say it was self-defense or you're going to have to admit you're a cold-blooded killer," Campbell County Prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass said during her two-hour closing statement to the jury.

Hubers' attorney David Eldridge said prosecutors want the jury to ignore all the guns and a target with bullet holes inside Ryan Poston’s condominium.

Poston was known to carry a gun, he said. A loaded gun was typically kept on the table he was seated at when shot, Eldridge said.

“She has every reason to believe there might be a loaded gun,” he said.

Hubers shot and killed Ryan Poston on Oct. 12, 2012, at his Highland Heights condominium. Prosecutors say Hubers killed Poston because he was leaving her.

Hubers was previously convicted in 2015, but the verdict was thrown out after it was found a juror in that trial had a prior felony conviction. In Kentucky, felons are not allowed to be seated on juries.

Testimony in this more than two-week trial has gone into explicit territory about sex acts between Hubers and Poston and Hubers' lack of ability to orgasm.

Other testimony focused on nonstop texting from Hubers during breakups over the 18 months they dated on-and-off and opinions by psychologists and forensics experts.

During defense closing statements, Eldridge said Poston sent Hubers mixed messages.

“Mr. Poston treated Ms. Hubers like a yo-yo,” he said. “He would push her away and then bring her back.”

Poston told Hubers he didn’t want her to be his girlfriend — but he wanted her, Eldridge said.

“He wanted her for sex,” Eldridge said.

Poston also wanted Hubers to run errands, clean the house and walk his dog, he said.

“And then he would tell his friends she was crazy,” Eldridge said.

Eldridge said prosecutors did not focus on negative evidence about Poston.

“There was a perfect looking couple on the outside that was deeply flawed on the inside. Their deeply troubled relationship came to a tragic end,” he said.

Snodgrass, in her closing statements, said jurors need to remember it was Hubers who closed the distance between herself and Ryan Poston after shooting him in the head to fire five more shots.

“The fact that she got closer to him as she shot shows her intentional action,” Snodgrass said.

Snodgrass said Hubers was “relentless” in the way she kept texting and calling until she got the answer she wanted from Poston.

"She told you 'I know he can't handle it when I cry.' 'It makes him feel so bad that he takes me back'," Snodgrass said of Hubers' statements during trial.

Snodgrass said Hubers was recorded saying she was good at acting.

She asked the jury which act the jury should believe since Hubers’ story changed on multiple occasions.

Snodgrass said Hubers told police the night of the shooting she picked the lock to Poston’s room and found him being lazy on the bed.

During this trial, Hubers said in testimony Poston opened the door and charged out of the room.

“So, which act do you believe?” Snodgrass asked jurors.

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