One of the defendants charged with kidnapping and murdering a West Wheatfield Township man entered guilty pleas Friday morning in Indiana County Court.
Indiana County District Attorney Bob Manzi said 20-year-old Taylyn Edwards of Johnstown entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill for first-degree charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Hayden Robert Garreffa in October 2022.
State police said that Edwards and seven others allegedly kidnapped Garreffa from his grandmother’s home in Buffington Township, beat him and stabbed him several times in a field near Onedia Mine Road in Brush Valley Township and left his body there.
This type of plea does not change the grading of an offense, according to Manzi, nor does it change sentencing guidelines. Instead, a defendant will be provided psychiatric or psychological treatment by the Department of Corrections.
Edwards will go for sentencing June 19.
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