California WOMAN Who STABBED Her BOYFRIEND 108 TIMES Sentenced to Probation and Community Service
A California woman who faced up to four years in jail for fatally stabbing her partner over 100 times during a drug-induced psychotic episode in 2018 was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service this week.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of her partner Chad O’Melia, 26, according to court reports from the Ventura County Star, the Los Angeles Times, and KTLA. Before her Tuesday sentence hearing, she faced a possible four-year prison term.
On May 27, 2018, authorities say Spejcher fatally stabbed O’Melia, an accountant, 108 times inside his Thousand Oaks, Calif., apartment after the couple smoked marijuana together, according to the Ventura County Star. She also repeatedly stabbed herself.
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According to the Ventura County Star, police officers who went to the site discovered Spejcher in a pool of blood with a knife. They allegedly had to use a Taser device and a baton to disarm her and take her to jail.
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During the trial, a medical expert testified that Spejcher’s behavior was caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, according to the Los Angeles Times. According to the National Library of Medicine, a diagnosis of the illness is made when hallucinations or delusions appear quickly after cannabis consumption.
Spejcher’s defense attorneys claimed that their client was “involuntarily intoxicated,” and that O’Melia had reportedly pressured and forced her into smoking the remaining piece of marijuana, according to the Ventura County Star.
O’Melia’s family confronted Spejcher in court at Tuesday’s sentence session, during which she expressed regret for her actions.
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“My actions have ripped your family apart,” she told the Ventura County Star. “I’m broken and aching inside. It hurts me that you’ll never see Chad again. Shane O’Melia, the victim’s brother, expressed his grief at the court and the challenges he had knowing Spejcher had been out on bail since her arrest in 2018.
“It’s been five and a half years where she has gotten to live with her family and we get to live with a box of ashes,” Shane told KTLA.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Worley justified his decision to give Spejcher no prison time.
“From that point forward, she had no control over her actions,” he added, referring to the time after she smoked the marijuana, according to the Ventura County Star.
Spejcher’s lawyer, Michael Goldstein, agreed, calling the sentence a fair and accurate portrayal of actions that he argues were beyond his client’s control, according to the Los Angeles Times.