Pennsylvania authorities have arrested a man in connection with the killing of a pregnant Amish woman, WJET-TV reports.
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania State Police announced that 52-year-old Shawn Cranston had been taken into custody for the death of 23-year-old Rebekah Byler.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Byler was found unresponsive around 12:30 p.m. February 26 by her husband and another person at their home in Sparta Township.
Byler, who was six months pregnant at the time she died, was reportedly found on her back in the living room. Investigators observed cut wounds to Byler’s neck and head, according to the Associated Press.
Two young children were at the home when Byler was found, but they were not harmed physically, police said.
Search warrants were executed for the house and other buildings on the property in an effort by police to look for knives, blades, cutting instruments and other items that could have been used in the attack.
Byler lived on a dirt road in a rural farming community home to many Amish families.
Relatives had reported seeing a red jeep in Byler’s driveway on the morning she was killed. That jeep had also been seen driving down their road, according to WJET-TV.
A man who is Amish and who knows Byler’s family said the community has been shattered by her death. “We are people who believe in God and turn to him during a time like this,” the man told ABC News.
Cranston faces charges of criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. He was arraigned early Saturday and is being held without bail in the Crawford County Jail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 15.
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[Feature Photo: This is the home a few miles outside of Spartansburg, Pa., on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, where investigators discovered the body of a pregnant 23-year-old Amish woman on Monday. Pennsylvania State Police are appealing for tips from the public to help solve the crime, a state police spokeswoman said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)]
