Trevor Christopher Weigel fatally stabbed Jaden Battista, pictured in the inset, near this car, prosecutors said. (Image of Battista: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office; screenshot of vehicle: WPVI)
A man barged into his ex-girlfriend’s home through a window, chased her out of the residence, and fatally stabbed her in front of a police officer, according to prosecutors in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
The responding officer tried to save the dying Jaden Battista, 19, but she succumbed to her injuries at a hospital, while the suspect, Trevor Christopher Weigel, 23, stabbed himself in the neck while fleeing and was taken in for surgery.
According to authorities, Battista told a friend over FaceTime on Friday that Weigel, her ex, arrived unannounced at her home, banging on the door in an attempt to get in. The defendant allegedly broke in through a first-floor window.
The friend heard a commotion, and a thump, and finally, Battista’s voice became muffled as if someone was putting a hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking, documents said. The phone call “was terminated,” and though the friend called back several times, no one answered.
Cops said they responded to a call of an in-progress burglary and domestic incident. The friend had made the report, Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn told reporters.
“When the first police officer arrived, he observed a male, later identified as Weigel, standing next to a red Ford Mustang with the passenger door open. The officer observed the male chase after a young woman, tackle her to the ground and repeatedly stab her in the upper portion of her body,” prosecutors wrote.
Leaving Battista bleeding heavily from the chest, Weigel fled on foot toward Interstate 295, authorities said.
“While fleeing, the male began to stab himself on the right side of his neck,” they wrote.
The officer worked on trying to save Battista’s life. First responders took her to a hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
An autopsy on Saturday determined she died of multiple stab wounds to her neck and chest.
Cops arrested Weigel after another responding officer tased him, they said. First responders took him to hospital for surgery to address his self-inflicted wound, they said.
Chief Kenneth D. Coluzzi of the Lower Makefield Township Police Department called the defendant a “coward.” He said that Weigel stabbed Battista approximately 15 times, with two “vital” injuries.
“She was such a light in so many people’s lives,” Battisa’s childhood friend Lucy Hossler told Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI.
Authorities claimed to find a murder weapon at the scene. Weigel was arraigned on Sunday for criminal homicide, burglary, possession of an instrument of crime, disorderly conduct, and harassment. Schorn told reporters that they plan on arguing the killing was first-degree murder.
She told reporters that Battista and Weigel had a “very short relationship” of two months, and had broken up “roughly two months” before the homicide.
“Body worn camera from Lower Makefield Township Officers involved in Weigel’s apprehension on Interstate 295 show Weigel saying that he found out that she (who law enforcement believed to be Jaden Battista) was cheating on him and he ‘lost it,’” documents stated about the arrest.
Prosecutors released phone numbers to domestic violence hotlines for people experiencing abuse:
A Woman’s Place: 800-220-8116
NOVA Bucks County: 800-675-6900
National Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233)
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