Girl, 14, ‘plotted mother’s murder’ with lover

A 14-year-old girl and her soldier boyfriend spent time on the phone plotting murder a week before her mother, who had tried to break up their relationship, was found with her throat slashed, the girl’s best friend testified.

Sat, 16 May, 2015 - 01:00

David DeKok

Jamie Silvonek, an eighth grader with braces on her teeth, sobbed as her friend, identified only as Witness 1, testified at a preliminary hearing for Silvonek and boyfriend Caleb Barnes, 21, a soldier at Fort Meade, Maryland are accused of killing Cheryl Silvonek on March 15 because she tried to end their relationship after she found out they were having sex.

The gruesome details of the killing in the driveway of the family home in Oreland, Pennsylvania, unfolded at Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown.

The friend, known only as witness 1, testified she overheard the plot over a mobile phone conversation in speaker mode. about what she heard as Silvonek and Barnes plotted the killing in a March 7 conversation over a mobile phone in speaker mode.

“She would have her parents go somewhere, Caleb would kill them, and they would dispose of the bodies together,” Witness 1 said.

About a week later, Silvonek’s mother’s slashed body was found in a shallow grave a mile from the home.

Silvonek told police her mother had driven them to a rock concert in Scranton. Returning home from the concert, the mother parked on the home’s driveway.

Silvonek recalled that Barnes grabbed her mother in a chokehold from behind, Detective Richard Heffelfinger of the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said. She kicked the horn several times and scratched Barnes until He pulled out a knife and slashed her throat three times, Heffelfinger said.

The trial continues.