Man Convicted of Stabbing His 14-Year-Old Girlfriend's Mom to Death for Disapproving of Their Relationship
A soldier from Allentown, Pennsylvania, was convicted of first-degree murder Friday for killing his then-14-year-old girlfriend's mother for expressing disapproval of their relationship.
Caleb Barnes, 22, was accused of fatally stabbing Cheryl Silvonek, 54, last year while his girlfriend, Jamie Silvonek, watched on. According to People, the murder happened after Cheryl Silvonek showed Barnes her daughter's birth certificate as proof of her age, thus also proving he'd committed a felony by sleeping with a minor. The case originally gained traction in the media after it was revealed that, prior to Cheryl Silvonek's death, her daughter had allegedly written a series of texts to Barnes that implied she wanted her dead.
Cheryl Silvonek was discovered with multiple wounds to her torso, head, and neck March 15, 2015, the couple allegedly having buried her in a shallow grave with plans to set the body on fire. Jamie Silvonek pleaded guilty to first-degree murder earlier this year, and, as part of a plea deal, agreed to testify against Barnes, thus receiving a shorter sentence of 35 years to life.
While originally Barnes suggested he'd acted alone, he pleaded not guilty before the case went to trial. When the two testified in court, both pointed the blame at each other, with Barnes claiming his girlfriend had murdered her mother after telling her she was pregnant with his child. When he took the stand, he claimed he had fallen asleep in his car outside of her house, when Jamie Silvonek came banging on his window covered in blood.
"At this point, I'm thinking I have a family to protect," he said, according to CBS. "This girl just killed her mom, but she's having my baby. I can't let her go to prison."
Meanwhile, Jamie Silvonek claimed Barnes had strangled, then stabbed, her mother from behind after she'd picked them up from a concert. In regards to the text messages, the Morning Call reports that she said, "I believe what I did was just as bad or worse than the physical act ... I realized that I had to do the right thing, that's taking accountability for my actions, something your client has yet to do."
The jury deliberated on their verdict for over four hours, ultimately siding with Jamie Silvonek since Barnes's narrative seemed not to hold up. At this time, Silvonek is serving her sentence at a state correctional facility, while Barnes will be sentenced to life in prison at his hearing Sept.19.
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