Tosha Barr's young son still hears his mother calling for him to run away as his stepfather, Travis Barr, attacked her in the early-morning hours of July 19, 2008.
Jennifer Martin, a Forsyth County assistant district attorney, said yesterday that the child watched as his mother was fatally stabbed, and he ran out of the apartment yelling for someone to "help my mommy.'' Tosha Barr, 25, later died at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center after being stabbed four times.
The boy, now 8, has had nightmares about that day and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Yesterday, Travis Lawan Barr, 36, of 1206 E. 23rd St. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and felony child abuse inflicting serious emotional injury. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors said last year that they intended to pursue the death penalty.
After the plea, Judge Richard Stone of Forsyth Superior Court sentenced Barr to 30 years to 37 years and five months in prison.
Martin said she agreed to a plea so the boy would not have to testify at a trial. The boy's therapist said that if the boy testified, his fragile emotional state would not only get worse but also negatively affect any progress that he has made in the past two years.
Martin said that it was a hard decision because she wanted to balance justice with what was best for the child.
"I struggled with it," she said after the hearing.
Travis Barr, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, showed little emotion as he accepted the plea arrangement.
On July 19, 2008, Tosha Barr called police twice after Travis Barr had shown up at her apartment. Winston-Salem police arrived and told Travis Barr that he would be charged with trespassing if he returned.
Tosha Barr's son was inside, as well as the 8-month-old daughter that she and Travis had together.
He returned at 6:15 that morning and, according to a neighbor, kicked in a window in the rear bedroom of the apartment and climbed in, Detective Sean Flynn of the Winston-Salem Police Department testified.
Several neighbors heard screaming and saw Tosha Barr run out of the apartment bleeding and begging for help. Her son also went outside, yelling, "Help my mommy!"
Tosha Barr was able to tell police and neighbors that Travis Barr had stabbed her.
Police later found Travis Barr at a family member's house, hiding in a shower and drinking a beer. He asked police to wait until he finished the beer before being taken to the police department, Flynn said.
Tosha Barr had twice before asked for protective orders against her husband. She got one because she said that he broke into her house in 2005 and raped her. She got another in November 2007 after an incident in which she said he held a knife to her stomach.
On May 8, 2008, two months before she was killed, she asked a judge to set aside that protective order, saying that she needed Travis Barr available to baby-sit her children.
Her son is now being taken care of by his paternal grandmother. The boy's biological father has custody, but is in jail for a probation violation, Martin said.
Tosha Barr's adopted sister has custody of the daughter.
Ruth Caldwell, who adopted Tosha when she was 9, told the court that she and other family members have been devastated by Tosha's death. Tosha Barr's whole world was her children and she was in the process of opening a business, Caldwell said.
"She would always call me and talk to me on the phone every day," Caldwell said.
mhewlett@wsjournal.com
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