Courts. (Credit: Flickr/Creative Commons)
A Quakertown man who insisted his girlfriend was brutally beaten to death by demons was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years in state prison for the 2021 killing of the victim in a Hazle Township motel room.
Joseph Alan Sarmiento, 40, was convicted of third-degree murder, but found mentally ill, in the death of 38-year-old Helena Johnson, who was strangled and beaten in a room at the Red Carpet Inn on North Church Street, according to The Reporter.
Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough, who presided over Sarmiento’s two-day bench trial in February, denied a defense request for leniency based on Sarmiento’s schizophrenia diagnosis, per the report. The judge ruled that while Sarmiento needs mental health treatment, he must also be held accountable for the violent crime.
At sentencing, Sarmiento maintained his claim that supernatural entities were responsible for Johnson’s death, stating he believed demons had attacked her and that she was still alive, per the report. He previously testified to seeing “black shadow figures with red eyes” and claimed to have seen Johnson twice while in jail.
Prosecutors described the murder as the result of escalating jealousy and anger, asserting that Sarmiento acted out after believing Johnson was flirting with other men, according to the article. Surveillance footage from the motel showed the couple arguing and entering their room together, with only Sarmiento later leaving the room.
Defense attorneys argued that Sarmiento remains severely mentally ill and delusional, continuing to believe in supernatural explanations and that Johnson was resurrected, per the report. They asked for a lighter sentence that would balance punishment with compassion, but the request was denied.
The judge emphasized that the guilty but mentally ill verdict would ensure Sarmiento receives psychiatric care during incarceration.
Sarmiento was given credit for 1,427 days served in pretrial detention and is expected to be housed at State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
