Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania – A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison after brutally killing his girlfriend during a jealous rage and then attempting to end his own life while lying beside her body.
A jury in Lackawanna County convicted Donnell Brunson, 57, in September on charges of first-degree murder and risking catastrophe in connection with the November 2023 killing of Danielle Barbuti, 49. On Tuesday, Judge Michael Barrasse of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas imposed a mandatory life sentence without parole for the murder conviction, along with an additional 18 to 24 months for the risk-related offense. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively.
Details of the Deadly Assault
Court records show that Brunson and Barbuti went to bed together during the night of November 28, 2023. According to investigators, Brunson later admitted that he had grown suspicious that his girlfriend was being unfaithful. Rather than confronting her, he allowed those suspicions to escalate into violence.
Brunson told detectives that he woke around 7 a.m. and began attacking Barbuti while she was still asleep. He initially struck her five or six times with his right fist, followed by additional punches with his left. The assault escalated when he grabbed a ceramic ashtray, using it to repeatedly strike her in the face.
Investigators say Brunson then used his hands to cover her face and finally pressed a pillow over her mouth and nose, suffocating her. Medical examiners later determined the official cause of death to be asphyxia.
Attempted Suicide and Risk to Others
After realizing Barbuti was dead, Brunson told police he believed he had only two options left: flee and kill himself or face life in prison. He attempted suicide inside the apartment by swallowing a large quantity of sleeping pills, slashing his wrist with an X-Acto knife, and turning on the gas stove in an apparent attempt to cause an explosion.
Despite these actions, the apartment did not explode, and Brunson survived. He later woke up that afternoon to repeated calls from Barbuti’s sister to the victim’s cellphone.
According to charging documents, Brunson recalled touching Barbuti’s leg and realizing “her leg felt cold.” He then covered her face with a blanket, washed blood from his body, and left the apartment.
Discovery of the Crime Scene
Barbuti’s sister grew concerned when the victim failed to arrive to babysit and stopped answering calls. She eventually went to the apartment, found the door open, and discovered her sister’s body.
Police described a scene saturated with blood. Officers recovered the bloody X-Acto knife, another knife, an open bottle of prescription pills bearing Brunson’s name, a bloody handprint on a wall, blood-soaked items, and diluted blood in the sink.
Continued Attempts to Die
Brunson’s suicide attempts continued after he fled the apartment. Police said he stopped at a store and purchased additional sleeping pills, ibuprofen, and bottled water. He consumed pills while driving before breaking into a mobile home he had previously worked on, where he again attempted to end his life.
Cellphone records helped law enforcement locate him. Officers found Brunson under a blanket inside the mobile home, with visible blood on his hands, throughout the residence, and smeared on his vehicle’s steering wheel.
Detectives noted that Brunson claimed he hoped police would shoot him if he encountered officers while still mobile.
Emotional Sentencing Statements
During sentencing, Barbuti’s sister delivered a powerful victim impact statement, describing her sister as someone who loved baking, cooking, and singing, and explaining how deeply her absence is felt, particularly during holidays.
She also addressed Brunson directly, telling the court that his actions destroyed not only Barbuti’s family but his own as well.
“You shattered two families,” she said.
Barbuti’s sister-in-law expressed outrage over Brunson’s claims that he feared the victim, questioning why he did not simply leave the relationship if he felt threatened.
Final Words and Verdict
Brunson offered limited remorse during his allocution, while also making unsubstantiated claims that Barbuti possessed dark or devil-themed objects—claims investigators never corroborated.
Prosecutors emphasized that the evidence demonstrated a calculated and escalating act of violence driven by jealousy, ending in deliberate suffocation.
With the life sentence now imposed, Brunson will remain behind bars for the rest of his life.
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