Steven Kurzinger’s case moved through indictment, mental-health litigation and a guilty plea before a judge imposed the maximum permanent prison term.
CHARDON, Ohio — Less than 30 minutes after Alexandra Kurzinger was fatally shot outside her home in June 2025, sheriff’s deputies had her former husband in custody. More than a year later, the criminal case ended in the trial court with Steven Kurzinger sentenced to life without parole.
The Aug. 5, 2026, sentence concluded a prosecution that evolved substantially from its first hours. Steven Kurzinger, 37, was initially accused of murder after Alexandra, 37, was killed outside an Irma Drive residence in Chardon on June 25, 2025. The investigation later produced an aggravated-murder indictment, litigation over mental-health issues, extensive evidence of planning and, ultimately, Steven’s guilty plea to the most serious charge. Judge Matt Rambo said the record showed prior calculation and left no basis for giving Kurzinger a future opportunity for release.
The first public account of the case was still developing when Steven appeared virtually in Chardon Municipal Court two days after the shooting. Police had responded shortly after 9 p.m. to a report of gunfire. A neighbor told 911 that a woman was down near the doorway of a nearby house. Alexandra was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators learned that Steven had left in a gray or silver vehicle, and an alert was issued to surrounding agencies.
Authorities located Steven in Concord Township at about 9:37 p.m. Police said he had gone to a residence on Ravenna Road and admitted to people there that he had killed Alexandra. Officers said the suspected murder weapon was in his vehicle. He was taken into custody without further violence. At the first court proceeding, prosecutors sought a $5 million bond, pointing to the seriousness of the charge and evidence that included a vehicle matching Steven’s leaving the scene, GPS information and the recovery of the suspected gun.
The early murder charge did not remain the full scope of the case. After Steven waived a preliminary hearing in July 2025, prosecutors presented evidence to a Geauga County grand jury. On Aug. 29, the grand jury indicted him on aggravated murder and murder, both unclassified felonies, and having a weapon while under disability, a third-degree felony. The aggravated-murder count reflected the prosecution’s developing position that Alexandra’s death involved advance planning rather than only an intentional killing formed at the scene.
Steven pleaded not guilty after the indictment, and the case entered a more contested pretrial stage. His attorney later sought to raise a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, citing psychological issues. Prosecutors opposed the effort and argued that the evidence they had reviewed instead pointed to planning during the period before the killing. Litigation over Steven’s mental condition continued, and a court-ordered evaluation reported in 2026 concluded that he was not suffering from a qualifying severe mental disease or defect that would meet the legal standard for insanity at the time of the offense.
Meanwhile, investigators had assembled a detailed record of the hours before Alexandra’s death. Steven and Alexandra, former spouses who shared five children, were scheduled to appear in Lake County court the next day for a hearing involving custody. Texts showed Steven asking that afternoon to meet and discuss holiday arrangements. He told Alexandra he hoped they could become better co-parents. She agreed to speak with him but said she would leave if the conversation involved yelling or name-calling.
Police later testified that Steven had obtained a handgun from a pawnshop about a week before the killing. Surveillance footage and Life360 location information tracked his movements on June 25. After initially going to Alexandra’s residence and speaking with her, he drove away and stopped at a Sheetz station in Chardon. He entered a restroom but made no purchase, according to testimony. He then headed back toward Irma Drive rather than continuing away from the area.
At 9:10 p.m., Steven texted Alexandra that he had returned. A nearby camera recorded the sound of gunshots around 9:11 p.m. Investigators said Alexandra was shot twice. Physical evidence presented at sentencing indicated that one shot was fired at close range after she was already down. Surveillance then captured Steven’s vehicle leaving the neighborhood. That evidence, combined with the earlier gun purchase and communications, became the foundation of the state’s claim that the killing had been planned.
The case changed course on June 17, 2026, when Steven withdrew from the path toward trial and pleaded guilty to aggravated murder. The plea meant prosecutors no longer had to prove the charge to a jury. In exchange, the state said the remaining murder and weapons counts and related specifications would be dismissed at sentencing. Steven also agreed to forfeit the firearm. Importantly, the parties did not negotiate a specific sentence.
That unresolved issue set up the Aug. 5 hearing before Rambo. Prosecutor Jim Flaiz used the proceeding to present evidence of the crime’s circumstances and asked the court to consider what he described as deliberate preparation. Flaiz highlighted the custody hearing scheduled for the next morning and argued that Steven intended to ensure Alexandra would not appear. He also emphasized the point at which Steven left her home and had an opportunity not to return.
The defense approached sentencing from a different direction. Attorney Matthew Bangerter did not dispute the evidence presented about the killing. Instead, he asked Rambo to impose a life sentence that would eventually permit Steven to seek parole. Bangerter’s sentencing memorandum described a history of mental-health problems and said Steven had not been receiving treatment at the time of the offense. He also detailed programs Steven had joined while incarcerated, including mental-health treatment, life-skills work, parenting programming, medication management and counseling.
Victim-impact statements turned the hearing from the procedural history of a criminal case back toward Alexandra and the people affected by her death. Friends and relatives attended in matching shirts displaying her name and a justice message. Her cousin Rachel Vogel described years of difficulties surrounding the relationship and said the killing created still more trauma. Friend Marie Anne Brown spoke of Alexandra losing the chance to build a different future for herself and her children.
Steven then addressed the court himself. He apologized to Alexandra’s family and friends and said he planned to continue working on himself. He expressed hope that he might someday re-enter society. But he also said it had been his intent to hurt Alexandra and no one else. Rambo responded by focusing on the intentional decisions documented in the case rather than on Steven’s prospects for rehabilitation.
The judge said the killing was not self-defense and did not arise from a sudden fit of rage. He pointed to the acquisition of the firearm, Steven’s travel to and from the residence and his return before the shooting. Rambo said those facts demonstrated prior calculation. He sentenced Steven to life without the possibility of parole, the outcome prosecutors had sought through their presentation even though the plea agreement itself contained no sentencing recommendation.
The sentence transformed Steven’s legal status from a defendant facing unresolved charges to a convicted murderer with no parole eligibility under the trial court’s judgment. His attorney requested appointment of counsel for an appeal, preserving a possible next stage in the courts. The dismissed charges no longer require adjudication because the aggravated-murder conviction alone supports the life-without-parole sentence imposed by Rambo.
For Alexandra Kurzinger’s family, the sentencing arrived more than 13 months after the killing and after proceedings that had addressed bond, indictment, mental health, plea negotiations and punishment. For the criminal case, the progression from the initial murder complaint to an aggravated-murder conviction reflects how investigators and prosecutors built a broader account of preparation from phone records, surveillance, location data and the circumstances surrounding the former couple’s scheduled court hearing.
Unless altered through appellate proceedings, Steven Kurzinger will remain imprisoned for life with no possibility of parole. His requested appeal is the principal remaining legal avenue following the trial court’s final sentence.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 20, 2026.