Terence Brabham pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder in York County on Oct. 15, resolving charges over the 2022 deaths of Tamarra Deloache and her unborn child. The plea came days before his trial was scheduled to begin; prosecutors withdrew the first-degree murder charges.
A Guilty Plea Days Before Trial
Brabham entered an open, non-negotiated plea to third-degree murder in both deaths, according to York Daily Record. The first-degree murder charges were withdrawn. York County Court of Common Pleas Judge Amber Kraft accepted the pleas and ordered pre-sentencing evaluations. Brabham’s trial had been set to begin Oct. 26. He remains jailed at York County Prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 21.
Deloache, 32, was killed in May 2022 in an upstairs apartment in the first block of North State Street in York City. She was about six months pregnant with her second child at the time. The 32-year-old was found in her bedroom, with stab wounds to her neck, chest, back and the back of her head, according to PennLive, which reported blood spatter throughout the apartment, concentrated in her room.
Surveillance Video and a Trail of Blood
Police responded to a possible domestic disturbance shortly before midnight on May 17, 2022. Charging documents cited by PennLive say surveillance video showed a man matching Brabham’s description leaving the house shortly after 10 p.m., walking north on State Street and then crossing to Glen Place. He returned about an hour later carrying what appeared to be a white jug of bleach. Investigators also said the footage showed him cradling his right hand as he left, and that a trail of blood followed his path. Another person entered the home about 11:40 p.m. and found Deloache dead.
Court records reviewed by PennLive describe cuts to Brabham’s right ring and pinky fingers. Police said they found his car outside his home and suspected blood and blood stains inside. After interviewing Brabham and collecting DNA samples, police arrested him that month on a criminal homicide charge, according to York City Police. Charging documents cited by the York Dispatch say Brabham was allegedly upset that Deloache was pregnant by another man. A witness said he had fathered her first child, and the two had reportedly been involved in a custody lawsuit.
DNA Ties Homicide Case to a 2015 Robbery
A separate case dating to 2015 also resulted in a guilty plea for Brabham. Months after his homicide arrest, Springettsbury Township police filed charges tied to an armed robbery at a Gabriel Brothers store on Greensprings Drive. A detective learned during the homicide investigation that DNA from a bandanna recovered at the robbery scene matched Brabham’s profile, the York Dispatch reported. The sample had not matched DNA in records when it was first collected.
Charging documents alleged that the robber pointed a gun at a store manager and forced the manager to retrieve money from an office safe. The robber also took an employee’s mobile phone and fled with $1,587. Police said a bandanna was dropped while the robber fled; they also cited a 2015 Facebook photo they said showed Brabham wearing clothing similar to the robber’s.
In the robbery case, Brabham pleaded guilty to felony robbery by threat of immediate serious injury. A second robbery count, along with theft, receiving stolen property and reckless endangerment charges, was withdrawn.
What Comes Next
The York County District Attorney’s Office sought additional first- and third-degree murder charges over the death of Deloache’s unborn child in 2022. A hearing on those proposed charges was postponed after Brabham requested an attorney, and Judge Harry Ness assigned him a county public defender, according to the York Daily Record. Pennsylvania’s criminal code provides separate sentencing rules for third-degree murder; first-degree murder can carry death or life imprisonment, while second-degree murder mandates life imprisonment, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
How Pennsylvania Law Addresses the Case
Pennsylvania’s Title 18 has a separate chapter on crimes against unborn children, including sections titled “Criminal homicide of unborn child” and “Murder of unborn child,” as noted in the statute cited above. The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing says its guidelines recommend a minimum-sentence range based on offense gravity and prior criminal history; Brabham’s sentence remains for the judge to determine, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. A separate Pennsylvania case also involved guilty pleas for the deaths of a pregnant woman and her unborn child. The Observer-Reporter reported that Ruben Velazquez Jr. pleaded guilty in 2013 to two third-degree murder counts over the 2011 stabbing deaths of Krystle Ann Vasquez and her unborn child in Monroe County. That was a different case involving a different defendant and victims, according to the Observer-Reporter.
Brabham is set to be sentenced Dec. 21 in York County, following the pre-sentencing evaluations ordered by Judge Kraft. Loved ones of Deloache have previously called for justice in her killing, according to Local 21 News.
