Not all the news in 2025 was good news.

As in any year, there were also some unfortunate, and even tragic, events in the area.

Below is a look at some of the charges filed and sentences handed down over 2025 in and around Butler County.

Four deceased infants were found Sept. 13 in Jessica Mauthe’s home in Cadogan Township, Armstrong County.

Investigators determined the infants were all born in the last six years, with the most recent being born about a year and a half ago, according to state Trooper Greg Durick’s testimony at an Oct. 28 preliminary hearing.

Mauthe, 39, is awaiting a pretrial conference before her next court date will be scheduled, according to her court docket. She’s being held in the Armstrong County Jail.

Butler County witnessed two murder-suicides in 2025 — one in Jackson Township and another in Butler.

Gina DePietro, 47, was murdered April 16 in her Creekside Manor apartment. She was found with three gunshot wounds after her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Platt, 31, of Zelienople, entered her unlocked apartment and shot her, police said.

Platt died by suicide, police said.

Just more than a month later on May 28, Beth Broeren was strangled in her home on Cottage Hill Avenue in Butler by Alfredo Diaz, with whom she was living, according to police. They were both 66 years old.

Butler County Coroner William F. Young III said Diaz died by hanging after killing Broeren.

Vincent Miceli was charged Nov. 10 in the killing of his 2-month-old son while the two were home alone together on Spooner Drive in Butler Township after taking the child’s mother to work.

Forensic pathologist Todd Luckasevic testified in a Dec. 4 preliminary hearing that the child died of blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.

Miceli is being held in Butler County Prison. His formal arraignment is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 20 in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Devin Russell, 20, was shot and killed by police on Interstate 279 in Allegheny County on Nov. 30 after Russell shot a 17-year-old boy two days earlier in Butler near the intersection of Ridge Avenue and West New Castle Street, according to police.

Russell was involved in a police pursuit that ended when a white SUV he was in went off the road and flipped twice before landing on its wheels near mile marker nine on I-279.

The 17-year-old boy shot in Butler was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and was reported to be in stable condition the following Monday.

Robert D. Pflugh, 58, was discovered to have fentanyl in his system when he fatally struck Donald B. Phipps, 65, on July 31 on Harmony Road in Connoquenessing Township, police said.

Pflugh is being held in Butler County Prison on a $250,000 bail. A status conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 14 before Judge Maura Palumbi.

Jared C. Lampus, 45, of Buffalo Township, was charged Aug. 18 with the rape and assault of a 16-year-old girl while working as a teacher at the Freeport Area School District and coach at Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball.

A status conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 23 before Judge Joseph Kubit.

Nathan Mitchell, 51, formerly of Adams Township, was charged with the indecent assault and corruption of four boys who had previously spent the night at his home.

The four boys who brought accusations are aged 10-12 and spent the night at Michell’s residence with his children. In each instance, Mitchell slept between the boys in a common area of the home on the floor or on the couch.

Mitchell posted bail, and a status conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 24 before Judge Maura Palumbi.

Another school official was charged with the sexual assault of a student on Feb. 26. Alaina M. Marshall, 29, of Beaver Falls, was charged after the juvenile involved detailed their relationship in a forensic interview.

Marshall was previously employed as a swim coach for the Riverside School District and Glade Run Lutheran Services where she was a licensed therapist working at the Seneca Valley School District.

Shawn Monper, 32 of Butler Township, was federally indicted in May in the Western District of Pennsylvania for threats made against President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other federal officials. Authorities also discovered Monper obtained a firearms permit shortly after Trump’s inauguration.

Attorneys in the case were still filing pretrial motions with the most recent activity being Nov. 25.

Mark H. Kowaleski, 54, of Natrona Heights, a former Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy, was charged March 18 with indecent assault after he spent the evening with a group of juveniles at a residence and at a bar.

Police said Kowaleski inappropriately touched at least one of the juveniles and showed a group of them an inappropriate photo.

A status conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. Jan. 26 before Judge Joseph Kubit.

Keith Randall Smith, 69, of Cranberry Township, has been recently charged in eight criminal cases stemming from his business practices at Oilology, a Cranberry Township car maintenance service.

Smith is charged with deceptive business practices in each case after he allegedly did not repair customer’s vehicles within a reasonable amount of time. Police said Smith has also loaned customer’s vehicles to other customers, returned vehicles with more damage then they were brought with and drove customer’s vehicles around without their permission.

Sloan Hanson, 71, was charged Jan. 23 with third-degree murder in the Oct. 9 death of Kimberly Ray, 55, in their shared Clearfield Township home.

Police said they discovered Hanson had been procuring and preparing heroin for Ray from an unidentified individual in Clariton, Allegheny County.

Hanson posted bail and is not incarcerated. A status conference is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 7 before Judge Maura Palumbi.

Shaun P. Sheffer, 47, of Harmony, was sentenced June 30 to serve 14 to 34 years in prison in the sexual assault of a girl when she was between 7 and 12 years old. A jury found the Jehovah’s Witness guilty in January, and he’s being held in a state correctional institute in Erie County.

Sheffer petitioned to receive either a new trial or the dismissal of his charges but was denied Oct. 10.

Hassan L.R. Brack, 39, of Huntingdon, was sentenced to serve 8 to 40 years in a state correctional institution on Aug. 11 for the murder of Hakeem Moran, 31, at 109 College St.

Brack’s previous trial in April regarding 2021 drug-related homicide had been declared a mistrial by retiring Judge Timothy McCune after the jury deliberated for nine hours over two days without reaching a unanimous decision.

Police said Brack and co-defendants Kahlil Z. H. Rippy Jr., 26, and Brook R. Fair Smith, 31, both of Butler, planned to rob Moran of controlled substances.

Rippy was sentenced to serve 4 to 10 years in prison, and Fair Smith was sentenced to serve 3.5 to 10 years in prison. The two had taken a plea deal for leniency in sentencing.

Brack is being held at a state correctional institution in Chester County.

Kassandra M. Clyde, 27, of Fombell, was sentenced to serve 3 to 10 years in a state correctional institution in the death of James Barge, 65, of New Castle, who was a Butler Eagle press operator.

Clyde reached a plea agreement in June and pleaded guilty to felony homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and misdemeanor DUI.

Barge was killed May 4, 2023, while driving home from work at 1:15 a.m. when Clyde’s vehicle crossed the center line and a turning lane and struck Barge’s on Route 422 in Franklin Township.

Clyde is being held in a state correctional institute in Crawford County.

Amanda Hughes, 29, of Pittsburgh, was sentenced to 48 months probation and $12,000 in restitution in the Feb. 5, 2022, shooting death of Anthony D. Smith, 30, in their Cranberry Township home.

Hughes was initially charged with homicide, but a plea agreement reduced the charge to misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. Hughes pleaded no contest in the agreement.

Nathan Michael, 29, of Butler, was sentenced to serve 17 to 34 years in prison, 12 months of reentry supervision upon his release and to pay $25,000 in restitution in the June 24, 2024, death of Joseph Derenzo, 38.

A jury found Michael shot Derenzo six times in Michael’s townhome and a nearby garage for the second homicide on Spooner Drive in Butler Township within two years.

The district attorney’s office sought a first-degree murder conviction with a death penalty or life in prison, but the charge was reduced to third-degree murder with a maximum penalty of 40 years. Michael had previously testified he was acting in self-defense.

Michael is being held in a state correctional institute in Cumberland County.