A Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty despite mental illness to the 2022 kidnapping and murder of an autistic teenage girl, prosecutors announced Friday.
“Taelyn Edwards, 20, of Johnstown, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murdering Hayden Garefa in October 2022 while mentally impaired,” Indiana County District Attorney Robert F. Manzi Jr. announced. statement“Edwards entered pleas to charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping, both first-degree felonies.”
Manji said the court could accept his guilty plea if it found that he had presented sufficient evidence to show that he was not legally insane and that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time he committed the crimes, despite his intent to do so.
“Pleading guilty but suffering from a mental illness does not change the grade of the offense or the Sentencing Guidelines or mandatory sentence,” Manzi said in a statement. “Defendants who plead guilty but suffer from a mental illness will be offered any psychiatric or psychological treatment available to them by the Department of Corrections.”
Law enforcement arrested Edwards and seven other suspects, including a 14-year-old boy. On Oct. 24, 2022, Pennsylvania State Police Troopers Cliff Greenfield told reporters: Garefa was arrested the day after his arrest. Garefa’s family reported him missing on Oct. 20, 2022, and told officers it was inappropriate for Garefa, who has autism, to leave his cell phone and medication behind, Greenfield said. Investigators reportedly believe eight suspects abducted Garefa from his grandmother’s home in Buffington Township, Indiana County. Garefa knew at least one of the suspects, and the suspects had a personal grudge against Garefa, Greenfield said.
Greenfield said officers found Garefa’s body on the shoulder of a remote, grassy area near Oneida Mine Road in Brush Valley Township around 4 p.m. on Oct. 22, 2022. Garefa lives about two miles away from his grandmother’s house. Indiana County Coroner Jerry Oberman Jr. has ruled Garefa’s death a homicide and reportedly determined Garefa had died two days prior.
An autopsy revealed that Garefa had suffered multiple stab wounds, Greenfield said. Further investigation revealed that the suspects assaulted and stabbed Garefa before dragging his body a short distance to where officers found him, Greenfield said.
He said Garrefa, a 2021 graduate of Forest Hills High School, was ambitious and “known for his hard work” and also “loved to be tidy” and had “an eccentric sense of humor, including eating odd food combinations to make people uncomfortable.” His obituary.
Authorities held the juvenile suspects in juvenile detention and denied bail to all the adults, Greenfield said.
Edwards was sentenced to life in prison without parole and is scheduled to be sentenced June 19, Manzi said.
