A man faces additional charges and trial for the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend earlier this year.
Trevor Christopher Weigel, 23, of the Churchville section of Northampton Township, was charged in February with killing 19-year-old Jaden Kylie Battista, of Bristol Township’s Croydon section, on Waterford Road in the Brook Stone condo complex off Township Line Road in Lower Makefield Township. Weigel is accused of stabbing Battista to death at the condo complex where she had been staying with a family member.
The preliminary hearing was held before District Judge Corryn Kronnagel on Tuesday at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown Borough.
The district judge forwarded charges of criminal homicide, burglary, possession of an instrument of crime, disorderly conduct, and harassment onto trial. Ahead of the hearing, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office amended the case to add charges of criminal attempted kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, and evading arrest or detention on foot, which were also forwarded for trial.
During a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, Kronnagel heard testimony from five witnesses, including three law enforcement officers.
The district judge ordered that charges against Weigel proceed to trial.
On the afternoon of Friday, February 16, police responded to a burglary report at the Brook Stone condo complex. Weigel was seen attacking Battista beside a red Ford Mustang. An officer arriving on the scene witnessed Weigel chasing and stabbing Battista multiple times in the upper body, authorities said.
Despite life-saving efforts by crews at the scene, Battista succumbed to her injuries at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township.
Weigel, who attempted to flee the scene, began stabbing himself and was apprehended a short distance away along I-295.
Lower Makefield Township police officers took Weigel into custody, and he was transported to the hospital where he underwent surgery for his injuries, authorities said.
Investigators said a bloody knife was recovered from the scene.
An autopsy found Battista was die from multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest, according to court papers.
Moments before the attack, Battista was on a Facetime call with a friend. During the call, she expressed alarm over Weigel banging on her door and eventually breaking in through a window, police said.
Weigel was captured on police body camera footage admitting that he “lost it” over a domestic issue.
Jeanie Millward, Battista’s mom, expressed shock in February at her daughter’s loss.
In a comment, she said of Weigel: “He took my reason for breathing. My entire life. He took my daughter from my husband and I, he took my other daughters’ sister. I want to look him in the eye and let him know the reality of what he’s done to our family and I want him to live with it every second of every day. I hope she haunts him.”
At the time of his bedside preliminary arraignment, Weigel indicated that he wasn’t aware he killed Battista.
“She was so perfect,” he said. “Why would I do that?”
Weigel remained in custody as of this week.
