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How the Daughter Stole Christmas

A daughter was on Santa's naughty list when she killed her parents.

By Edward AndersonPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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"We do stigmatise teens a lot and see them as scary and alien," best-selling novelist J. K. Rowling tweeted. Ah, the drama of being a teen. Parents don't understand, teachers are evil, and the couples will be together forever. Some teens are so in love with their partner that they will do anything to make sure that they stay together. ANYTHING. Including murdering their parents because they said the relationship was toxic. Clearly, all the parents are doing is trying to ruin a special romance because they are so miserable. So was the thought process of Stephanie Barron when she killed her parents, Stephen and Carla Barron on Christmas morning in 1999.

Stephanie had started seeing a boy, one that her parents tsk-tsked, and wanted her to stop seeing him. The teen thought that she knew better than her parents because, you know, she got straight A's and high school grades are an indicator of intelligence and common sense. Since they were so disrespectful of her relationship, Stephanie decided that her parents needed to be punished. Sheriff J.B. Smith says, "What's fascinating is the mind of these criminals, or the lack thereof because they just don't think like common people." Indeed they don't. Before people get angry, there is no way that Stephanie Barron is anything but a psychopath.

After her parents were shot to death, Stephanie went about calling the police and reporting that she heard a gun being fired in her parents' room and it must be an intruder. Most people's first instincts would be to run, but making a phone call and hiding in the closet might be the better option. The thing is though, police said that there was no evidence of an intruder. A teenager lying? Oh, my word, what is this world coming to?

So as it turned out, Stephanie committed the act by herself. A bloody T-shirt and a gun were found in her closet. When the police found those pieces of evidence, they arrested the former honor roll student and had her charged with murder. Smith admits that there was, "No sign of any break in, no theft, no motive for the slaying," but Stephanie did plead guilty to murder.

However, despite her guilty plea, she has never actually confessed to being the killer. There is little doubt that she was the one who pulled the trigger and ended the lives of her parents. The reason though remains a mystery. Outside of them being against the relationship she was in with the unnamed boy, everything else in their world seemed fine. Dr. Wade French offers some insight into what may have happened, "The parents are seen as an obstacle to the daughter being able to maintain a relationship with a male that they desire to have in their life," Ah, yes the old "if you don't support this relationship, you're gonna die" argument. Dr. French makes a good point, though. Stephanie probably did see her parents as encroaching and ruining her relationship. Everything is more dramatic in the teen years.

Love still eludes Stephanie Barron. As she sits in prison, serving a 75-year sentence, she has joined a prisoner dating service. Yes, that is a thing. This also explains why prisoners get so much play. There is no word on if anyone has responded to her ads, but she is still available on the websites that she submitted profiles on.

It's sad that her search for love led her to kill the two people who were supposed to love her unconditionally. Unlike the Menendez Brothers, there have been no shocking revelations of molestation or rumors of impropriety. Instead, a teen romance ended two lives and left one tattered beyond recognition. On the plus side though, when she's 92, Stephanie will have another chance at love on the outside.

Merry Christmas!

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About the Creator

Edward Anderson

Edward has written hundreds of acclaimed true crime articles and has won numerous awards for his short stories.

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