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Lifetime's Sleeping With a Killer is all set to cover the case of James Barry's murder dating back to 2016, where his ex-girlfriend Melanie Eam allegedly stabbed him with a kitchen knife after the former broke up with her on a video game chat. Barry was murdered in his Loxahatchee Acreage home, where he lived with his mother and her boyfriend.
Melanie Eam and James Barry were in an on-off relationship for approximately two years during the time of the murder. The breakup, which was allegedly the primary reason for the crime, was over a League of Legends chat. After the infamous chat, Eam went to Barry's house in the early hours of November 17, 2016, where she allegedly stabbed the young man to death with a butcher knife from the kitchen.
Melanie Eam was sentenced to 50 years in prison for second-degree murder.
How did James Barry die?
The subject of Sleeping With a Killer's latest episode, James Barry, was a 21-year-old resident of Loxahatchee Acreage, where he lived with his mother and her boyfriend, Guy Hand. The night before the murder, Barry allegedly broke up with Eam over a video game chat. Eam went to his house to confront him.
This turned ugly pretty quickly after James said that he hadn't been in love with her for months. Jeff Jarzabkowski, a friend of James Barry, was present at the time the crime took place. Jeff had fallen asleep while playing video games. He woke up to the sound of Barry's cries.
Jeff recalled:
"He’s yelling, ‘Jeff, please, get out of here, get help, Jeff, please help,’ like at the top of his lungs...I see an open wound near like his chest, neck area,..I tried to cover the wound the best I can,” said Jarzabkowski. “Not even seconds later, I see the light go in his eyes."
Barry was stabbed seven times, and despite the efforts of Jeff and Guy to administer emergency CPR, Barry did not make it. According to several reports, Eam fled the murder scene and escaped to Maryland. She stopped briefly at her home and in an ATM on the way. She also left her phone behind at Barry's house.
Eam's cousin allegedly contacted the authorities after she fled the scene. Investigators followed her to Maryland, where she confessed to stabbing Barry to death after their heated argument. Lauren Godden, the prosecutor for Barry's case, said:
"In the statement you’ll hear her admit to the fact that she stabbed James Barry— doesn’t even know how many times, but that she stabbed James Barry because he broke up with her."
The defense for Eam allegedly tried to pin the case on Barry's stepfather, saying that Guy could have been angry at Eam for somehow taking advantage of their home's hospitality, and had stabbed Barry during the argument.
This rather absurd accusation did not stand well with the jurors, who deliberated for four hours on five questions before finding Melanie Eam guilty of second-degree murder. Barry's father said in a statement:
"We've spent the last 26, almost 27, months in terms of waiting for this day and we got what we were looking for...I hope the judge actually gives her the maximum sentence he could possibly do, because even that won't bring James back."
Eam was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
