A Carroll County man will spend 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty Friday to killing a family acquaintance in a fight in 2018.
Melvin Cordero Barkley, 36, of Carrollton, pleaded guilty to multiple counts, including voluntary manslaughter, as part of a negotiated deal, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford said in a statement. Barkley was arrested in May 2018, one day after he stabbed 23-year-old Tyler Waters in the throat.
Cranford said that while he believed there was enough evidence to support murder charges against Barkley, he agreed to the plea deal due to the possibility that a jury might not convict the defendant.
“Resolving this case with 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole protects our community for decades from this defendant and holds him accountable for taking the life of Mr. Waters without justification,” Cranford said.
The incident began with an argument involving a family matter, according to Cranford. The two men argued over the phone because Waters was upset that Barkley and his fiancée were living in Waters’ great-aunt’s home without paying rent. Barkley told Waters to come to the house, and the two then got into a fight in the front yard.
“Waters essentially won the fight, then got back in his vehicle and drove away,” Cranford said.
But Barkley got into his car and chased Waters, then rear-ended him, Cranford said. The two men got out of their cars and faced off a second time, but this time Barkley pulled a knife and stabbed Waters in the throat, severing his carotid artery and cutting his jugular vein, according to Cranford. Despite the severe neck wound, Waters was able to get back into his car, but he died inside the vehicle.
Barkley fled the scene before police arrived and wasn’t taken into custody until the next day. By the time he was found, Barkley had abandoned his car, disposed of the knife and washed the clothes he was wearing during the incident. Cranford said Barkley gave multiple recorded interviews that “provided several evolving accounts” of the incident, including that he stabbed Waters in self-defense.
Barkley had multiple prior convictions on felony charges and is now on his third stint in state prison, according to records kept by the Department of Corrections. His sentence includes 20 years of probation upon his release.
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