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Teenager 'convinced soldier boyfriend to stab her mum'

A judge has ruled that a 14-year-old girl charged with conspiring with her soldier boyfriend to have her mum killed will remain in adult jail while she awaits her trial.

Jamie Silvonek, from Pennsylvania in the US, was denied the opportunity to get transferred to a juvenile facility where she was initially sent after the body of Cheryl Silvonek as discovered last month.

The mum’s body was found buried in a shallow grave and her car partially submerged in a pond a few miles from the family home.


Lehigh County Judge Maria Dantos denied the defense petition for the teenager who is charged with adult with homicide and criminal conspiracy, reports AP.

Silbonek’s boyfriend, Caleb Barnes, 20, who is from El Paso, Texas, but was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, is charged with homicide.

It is alleged the pair cooked up the plan by text message because Silvonek’s mum did not approve of the relationship.

Caleb Barnes, a 20-year-old soldier, is charged with murdering his girlfriend's mum after she disapproved of the age difference in their relationship. Photo: Twitter
Caleb Barnes, a 20-year-old soldier, is charged with murdering his girlfriend's mum after she disapproved of the age difference in their relationship. Photo: Twitter

AP reports that Barnes and the teenager met in October, when she was 13, but she lied to him telling him she was 17.

Police say Silbonek text Barnes saying ‘I want her gone’ because her mum's disapproval of them being together.

Silbonek’s defense attorney John Waldron says the teenager was under "some type of duress or coercion" citing the age difference as a possible reason.

Officials say the teenager is in the women's housing unit, 'away from older inmates'.

News break – April 20