Two more defendants have submitted pleas in connection with the 2022 kidnapping and murder of an Indiana County man.
Eight people were charged in the death of 19-year-old Hayden Robert Garreffa, who was found dead in a remote, wooded area of Brush Valley Township early on Oct. 22, 2022.
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On Friday, Indiana County District Attorney Robert Mani announced on social media that two of those charged — Isaac Buchkoski, 24, of Johnstown, and Summer Settlemyer, 22, of Johnstown — entered pleas of guilty but mentally ill.
According to Manzi, the two pleaded to the charges of murder in the second degree, aggravated assault, conspiracy to aggravated assault, kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnapping.
Buchkoski and Settlemeyer’s sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 17. Manzi says their plea allows the court to order mental health treatment while they’re under sentence.
“In Pennsylvania, a person can be found guilty but mentally ill when they have been examined by an expert in the field of mental illness, and that expert has opined that the defendant suffered from mental illness at the time of the offense,” Manzi said. “In a plea of guilty but mentally ill, the defendant is exposed to the same sentencing guidelines, including the same incarceration.”
Police said Garreffa was lured out of a home in Dilltown after he had an argument with one of the suspects earlier in the day. He was then allegedly kidnapped, beaten and stabbed before his body was dumped in the woods around two miles away.
Taylyn Nashell Edwards, 22, was sentenced to life in prison in 2024 after entering a plea of guilty but mentally ill.
Cases remain active against Desean Garcia Alvarez, 24; Mia Shai Catalfano, 21; Thomas Alan Rivera, 23; and Jesse Lee Wadsworth, 21.
Harmony Rhyne Hayward, 17, was originally charged as a juvenile before being charged as an adult in the case.
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