PEORIA, Ill. (TCN) —Â A 19-year-old man recently entered a plea agreement for killing his girlfriend and trying to stage her death as a suicide after she allegedly texted another man.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office said Nathaniel Archuleta pleaded guilty on July 7 to first-degree murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Mary Halcomb. He received 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and will have to serve 100% of his sentence.
According to prosecutors, on Sept. 6, 2024, police responded to a report of a woman who shot herself and found Halcomb “lying in a pool of blood on the stairwell landing with a gun in her hand.” She sustained one gunshot wound to the neck and was pronounced deceased.
Investigators uncovered evidence suggesting Halcomb didn’t end her own life, including a blood trail that revealed her body was likely moved. In the downstairs bedroom, authorities also reportedly discovered a Post-it note that said, “I, Mary Elyce Halcomb, promise to never break Nathaniel Archuleta’s heart, and if I do, Nathaniel Archuleta has every right to euthanize me, vice versa, I love you.”
Prosecutors said Archuleta provided inconsistent statements during the investigation. He reportedly first said his girlfriend’s death was a suicide, and then he claimed he was cleaning his gun when it accidentally went off. According to the state’s attorney’s office, Archuleta later confessed to an inmate “that he shot Mary because he caught her texting another man.”
During the defendant’s plea hearing, prosecutors said the victim’s family members and loved ones were present, and they “tearfully described the emotional toll her death had caused them. They spoke of sleepless nights, nightmares, and persistent heartbreak.”
According to the state’s attorney’s office, loved ones described “struggling with trust, fear, depression, and anxiety. They called Archuleta’s actions selfish and unforgivable, stating that blood will forever be on his hands and that justice must now be served.”
MORE:
