NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Texarkana man who attacked the mother of his child after breaking into her home last year pleaded guilty shortly before jury selection was to begin Tuesday morning.
Barfield appeared before 5th District Judge Bill Miller with Public Defender Chad Crowl at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston and changed his plea to guilty Tuesday morning. Assistant District Attorney Lauren Richards said Tilford's victim was in favor of the plea arrangement.
"Part of our job is to accommodate a victim's wishes whenever possible. In this case, our victim did not want to be subjected to the trial process," Richards said. "Although Barfield has no prior criminal history, he was given a 10-year sentence, with the understanding he may later apply to the court for probation for a term of 10 years."
Tilford went to his former girlfriend's home Dec. 13 shortly before midnight, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. Barfield had been calling her repeatedly throughout the day asking if he could come to her home. The woman told investigators she and Barfield had ended their romantic relationship after two years.
The victim told investigators she told Barfield she didn't want to talk and that she asked her 4-year-old to lock the front door. Barfield showed up and was able to partially open the door because the child had only secured a chain, not the lock. After about 15 minutes, Barfield offered to take his and the woman's infant son so that the mother could catch up on sleep.
When the woman removed the door chain, Barfield pushed his way into the woman's home. When she tried to call police, Barfield took the woman's cellphone. As Barfield pushed the woman down a hallway, she grabbed a metal lockbox and hit Barfield. The woman said she tried to hit Barfield with a wrench, but he took it away from her.
The woman told investigators she bit and hit Barfield, but he refused to stop his advance. When she tried to call 911 on a land-line phone, Barfield took it away. Barfield locked the mother of his baby in a bathroom and made sexually oriented statements.
"The whole time she said she was fighting him and attempting to push him away," the affidavit states. "She said she picked up keys and started trying to stab him with them, but because he is such a big guy it was having no effect on him."
The woman reported that Barfield pushed her against a washing machine and pulled down her pants before pulling down his own. The woman said she managed to grab a glass toothbrush holder and strike Barfield with it in the head.
"She said the glass cut her hand, and he was then bleeding too," the affidavit states.
The woman said that as Barfield stopped to clean the blood from himself, she managed to call for help on her cellphone.
"She said she told dispatch that she needed police, and then she quickly hung up the phone before Barfield found out," the affidavit states. "She said the dispatcher called back, and Barfield asked to speak with them. She didn't know what he said to dispatch, but when he handed the phone back to her he said, 'Clear it up.'"
Police arrived a short time later, and Barfield was taken into custody.
Barfield pleaded guilty Tuesday to burglary of a habitation, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.