In 2016, the murder of James Barry got a lot of attention because his ex-girlfriend, Melanie Eam, was accused of stabbing him to death after he broke up with her over a video game chat. At the time of this crime, Eam was only 20 years old. Six jurors found her guilty, so she was charged with second-degree murder.
Even though the defence tried to put the blame on someone else, the case was pretty clear-cut. Eam went to James Barry’s home in Loxahatchee early on November 17, 2016, after he allegedly broke up with her through a video game chat. In a fit of anger, she used a butcher knife from Barry’s kitchen to stab him seven times.
In 2018, she was found guilty of second-degree murder for killing James Barry. The judge gave her a 50-year prison sentence. At the time, Eam was 22 years old.
Melanie Eam, who was born and raised in Florida, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly beating up her ex-boyfriend James Barry. Sources say that Barry ended his on-and-off relationship with Eam over a conversation in League of Legends.
“Oh, you forgot about me,” was supposedly what they said to each other.
“We seemed happy to me.”
“Thanks for leaving me alone during a League of Legends chat.”
After this, Melanie Eam supposedly went to Barry’s home in Loxahatchee to talk to him about the breakup. Barry told her, though, that he hadn’t loved her in months. This made things even worse, which led to Eam attacking him with the knife. Barry’s chest and neck are said to have been stabbed seven times by Eam.
Barry’s friend Jeff Jarzabkowski was at his house that night. It was said that he had fallen asleep when the attack happened. James Barry’s cries woke him up. Jeff did everything he could to help Barry. Guy Hand, who was dating Barry’s mother, also tried to give the young man CPR, but it didn’t work. Jeff recalled the event in an emotional statement: “I see an open wound near his chest, neck area,… I tried as hard as I could to hide the wound,.. I see the light go out in his eyes in less than a second.”
Eam is said to have left the scene of the attack and gone to Maryland, stopping briefly at her home on the way. With help from Melanie Eam’s cousin, the police found Melanie Eam in Maryland. There, she admitted that she had stabbed Barry. Even though the defence tried to come up with a different explanation for the murder, everything came back to Eam in the end.
What happened to Melanie Eam?
After Eam was caught, prosecutors built a strong case against the 20-year-old because all the evidence pointed to him. During the end of her argument, Assistant State Attorney Lauren Godden said, “That hurts. That would be bad for anyone… But she was acting like a crazy person and decided she was going to get a big butcher knife and stab him.
The fairly simple trial went on for two days before the jury started making their decision. The jury took four hours to decide that Eam was guilty of second-degree murder. Melanie Eam was given a 50-year prison sentence and is due to get out in 2066. She is in prison right now, where she will spend most of the rest of her life.