An Ohio mom was stabbed to death in front of her five young children and police have arrested a man she had a brief romantic relationship with in connection with her murder.
Sharmaine Magan Forpahl, 32, died after she was stabbed multiple times in front of her children, who are between the ages of 7 and 15, KXII reported.
Cleveland police found Forpahl’s body just steps from her front door in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood last Thursday and arrested and charged Charles F. Barkley with her murder over the weekend.
Barkley, 44, had a brief romantic relationship with Forpahl, according to the report. It was not immediately clear if he was the father of any of her children.
The young mom’s best friend, Ciara Drake, said she was on the phone with her mere minutes before the deadly attack.
“I was in disbelief because I had just gotten off the phone with Sharmaine and her son, so I couldn’t really believe what I was hearing,” she said.
Forpahl was remembered by Drake and her younger sister, Sky Harmon, for showering everyone around her with love.
All five of Forpahl’s children were home at the time of her brutal stabbing, including her youngest, a 7-year-old boy who is now without his mother and father, according to the report.
“He doesn’t fully understand that his mom is gone yet, and it’s just so sad they have to go through that at a young age,” Harmon said.
Now, Forpahl’s loved ones say they are determined to keep her memory alive for her children, who are 15, 12, 11, 9 and 7, according to a GoFundMe.
“I’m worried about making sure her memory stays alive for her younger children,” Drake said. “Because when you lose someone that young, eventually memories start to fade.”
Forpahl was described as a “devoted single mother to her five children,” according to a GoFundMe set up to cover funeral expenses and provide financial support to her kids.
“She recently moved into a peaceful single-family home in a quiet neighborhood, where she enjoyed spending quality time with her children and creating a loving, safe environment for them,” the fundraiser read.
This year alone, Cleveland police have investigated 48 homicides, a 29 percent decrease from the 68 recorded during the same time frame last year, according to Cleveland.com.
