Ohio substitute teacher arrested and accused of hiring a student to kill her husband

A Powell, OH substitute teacher was arrested recently, accused of hiring a student to kill her husband, with whom she was amid divorce proceedings. Reports say she paid the high school student, whose identity has not been disclosed, a $250 downpayment, and had agreed to pay the student more when the job was done.

​Reports say Stephanie Demetrius, a 44-year-old substitute teacher from Powell, Ohio, near Columbus, was arrested on March 26, this year and charged with conspiracy, a first-degree felony. She allegedly offered a high school student at Urban Scholars High School in Columbus $2,000 to kill her husband.

Court records indicate that Demetrius approached the teen with this proposition leading to her arrest. Demetrius holds a substitute teaching license.

The Demetrius phone call

A staff member at Urban Scholars High School located in Columbus is facing serious allegations after reportedly conspiring with a student to have her soon-to-be ex-husband killed.https://t.co/w0xQNhLZ8V

— WSYX ABC 6 (@wsyx6) April 3, 2025

According to The Columbus-Dispatch, Ohio authorities recorded a call between Demetrius and the student in which Demetrius told her alleged coconspirator when her children would be out of the home so the murder could happen.

When asked about neighbors hearing gunfire, she reportedly told the student, ” … [T]hey don’t care about the neighbors.”

​Stephanie Demetrius filed for divorce from her husband in April 2024, with proceedings still ongoing.  Before this, the couple had initiated divorce proceedings in 2017 but later withdrew them. Details about Demetrius’ husband and family have no so far been disclosed.

The Dispatch says Demetrius has a history of mental illness, with episodes of violence, burglary, and abuse before the alleged murder plot was uncovered.

Demetrius is accused of setting a fire in the home, damaging property, and taking parts from the home’s furnace while temperatures were below freezing. According to The Dispatch, court documents state,

[Demetrius] has physically assaulted two of the children and Defendant Father. The minor children are in danger of harm as their [mother] continues to return to the Marital Residence and break windows and doors to force herself in.”

Also according to court filings, Demetrius’ husband had, ” … [N]umerous attempts to resolve the situation with Mother, who appears to be escalating in her erratic and threatening behavior.”

Demetrius is currently held on a $150,000 surety bond and, among other conditions, ordered to stay away from her husband and family if that bond is met. Multiple reports state Demetrius’ husband has said he’s focused on his children and has declined to comment. Demetrius is expected to appear in court on April 11.