A 53-year-old Pennsylvania man, Shawn Christopher Cranston, will spend the rest of his life in prison for brutally murdering a pregnant woman by slicing her throat and shooting her for not dying “quick enough.”
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According to a release issued by Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, Cranston was sentenced to life in prison without parole and received an additional life in prison sentence for the 2024 murder of Rebekah Byler.
Cranston was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder of an unborn child, first-degree burglary, and first-degree criminal trespass in June.
“This defendant committed a truly evil act, and is now held fully accountable as he will spend the rest of his life behind bars without an opportunity to ever again harm another person in free society,” Attorney General Sunday said. “I commend the dedicated investigators and prosecutors for their work, and the jury that reached an appropriate verdict.”
“My thoughts are with the victim’s family, whose quiet strength throughout the process has been inspiring.”
Violent Murder
As per a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, the incident occurred on February 26, 2024. After authorities arrived at a Byer house in Sparta Township, they found Rebekah Byler, an Amish woman, dead. Her throat had been cut, and she had been shot in the head.
Present at the house were the woman’s 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. While unharmed, the children witnessed the gruesome scene. It was the boy who told authorities that a man wearing sneakers had driven a green truck to their house, later to enter it and kill his mother.
On March 2, 2024, police arrested Shawn Christopher Cranston. During his trial, prosecutors showed evidence placing him at the scene at the time of the murder. His sneakers’ shoe prints and tire treads were crucial to the prosecution, and it was revealed that a botched burglary was what led to the fatal and violent outcome.
A fellow inmate of Cranston’s also testified in court, saying that the man had confessed to the murder. The inmate testified that Cranston attempted to choke Byler. Because she didn’t “pass out,” Cranston slit her throat. Then, as per the inmate’s testimony, because Byler “didn’t die quick enough,” Cranston decided to shoot her in the head.