FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) – Amanda Cypher was sentenced to time served on Monday afternoon on charges related to the death of Tausha Baker.
On Monday, June 3, Senior Judge H. William White sentenced 34-year-old Amanda Lynn Cypher — of Franklin and currently lodged in the Venango County Jail — to time served.
Cypher, who testified for the prosecution in the case of Richard Kennedy, was offered a plea deal for her testimony.
She pleaded guilty to Abuse of a Corpse and Tampering With Physical Evidence, both second-degree misdemeanor charges.
She was ordered to 12 months less one day to 24 months less one day, $100.00 fine, and $1.00 restitution for the count of Abuse of a Corpse and six months to 24 months less one day, $100.00 fine, and $1.00 restitution for the count of Tampering With Physical Evidence plus fines and restitution.
Judge White explained the $1.00 restitution was to allow the possibility of restitution, so the amount can be changed at a later date.
The aggregate sentence is 18 months less two days to 48 months less three days. Cypher has served 584 days in the Venango County Jail and was immediately paroled; however, she will be transported to Butler County Jail to be resentenced on a parole revocation.
Details of the Case Against Richard Kennedy
On April 17, 2019, Richard Kennedy was found guilty of first-degree murder in the October 27, 2017 death of Tausha Baker.
He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on August 22, 2019, with Judge Oliver J. Lobaugh presiding.
Richard Kennedy
In addition to first-degree murder, Kennedy was also found guilty of second-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault causing bodily injury, aggravated assault causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a prohibited offensive weapon, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.
According to court documents, Kennedy and his then-girlfriend, Amanda Cypher, were at a residence at 1313 New Street in Franklin, Pa.
Sometime after 8:00 a.m. on October 27, 2017, Tausha Baker came to the 1313 New Street house. Cypher said as she and Baker were entering the kitchen area, Kennedy attacked Baker with a frying pan beating her in the head. Cypher then said that Kennedy tied Baker up and made her call Greg Militello to procure more drugs and possibly money. Cypher then went to Militello’s to get the drugs. When she returned, Kennedy brought Baker, who Cypher said was still alive at the time, out to a Ford Edge owned by Militello. who during testimony told the jury he was selling crack. The Ford Edge was driven to 1313 New Street by Baker.
With Cypher driving and Kennedy riding in the backseat with Baker, Baker was taken to a spot on Waterworks Road. At that point, Cypher testified that she saw Kennedy stab Baker multiple times in the upper torso area. After stabbing Baker, Cypher said Kennedy then dropped a basketball-size rock on Baker before dumping Baker’s body over a hillside in a dump area.
Tausha Baker
The couple then drove towards Franklin stopping at Pioneer Cemetery where they hid some of their clothes, and Kennedy threw the knife into the river, according to Cypher. Cypher then said Kennedy stole a gas can and ordered her to drive back to the site where Baker’s body had been dumped. Once back at the site, Cypher said Kennedy lit the body of fire.
The duo then returned to Franklin and visited a couple of difference locations including the house of Penny McCoy, where police found Kennedy’s Air Jordan sneakers hidden in an attic, a house owned by Tausha Baker’s father, Doug Baker, where Tausha Baker was living at the time of her death and where Militello was also staying in the basement, and then back to the 1313 New Street house.
Eventually, around 4:30 p.m., Kennedy and Cypher went back to the Waterworks Road site, and Cypher said Kennedy lit Baker’s body on fire again. The body was discovered a short time later by Polk firefighters who had been called to a scene of a suspected brush fire.
After burning Baker’s body a second time, Kennedy and Cypher returned to Franklin and were spotted by the residents of the 1313 New Street House, who had called police around 4:00 p.m. to report Baker as missing. While Cypher didn’t try to flee police, Kennedy evaded police until he was captured around 7:00 p.m. in the Arbor Circle area.
Neither Cypher nor Kennedy admitted to the killing of Baker during questioning by police on October 27 and October 28, 2017, but on December 22, 2017, Cypher asked to speak to the police. That is when she laid out most of the above story, which, for the most part, matched what she told the jury during the trial.
During Kennedy’s trial, the prosecution called Joseph Ibarra, who was a cellmate of Kennedy’s at the Venango County Jail, and Ibarra testified that Kennedy had told him that he (Kennedy) had killed Baker.
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