Windi Thomas, 44, weighed 136 kilograms. Her boyfriend Keeno Butler, the same age, weighed 54. That 82-kilo difference became the weapon.
On March 18, 2018, in the apartment they shared on East Avenue, Erie, Pennsylvania, Thomas cut Butler’s hand with a folding knife, struck his head with a wooden table leg, and then sat on his chest. The medical examiner established the official cause of death as “respiratory failure secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and chest compression, aggravated by head trauma”. Before the attack, Thomas had been drinking and was trying to get crack cocaine.
On December 3, 2018, Thomas pleaded guilty to third-degree murder before Erie County Judge William R. Cunningham. The agreement with the prosecution calls for a sentence of 18 to 36 years in state prison, avoiding the maximum possible 20 to 40 years. Sandra Butler, the victim’s sister, said the family had expected a much harsher sentence. The trial had been set for December 10; the plea deal canceled it.
