Pa. man gets 30 years in fatal hammer attack

Pa. man gets 30 years in fatal hammer attack

READING, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania man was ordered to spend at least 30 years in prison for fatally beating a woman with a hammer and critically injuring her husband after being asked to fix a computer inside their home.

Thirty-seven-year-old Manuel Carrero Jr. was ordered Wednesday to spend up to six decades behind bars for the February 2011 attacks on 83-year-old Lucy Born and her 86-year-old husband, James.

Authorities say Carrero was visiting Spring Township, Berks County from Shippensburg when he attacked the couple after fixing their computer. The Borns knew Carrero through their son.

In return for a guilty plea, prosecutors promised not to charge Carrero with murder if James Born dies of injuries related to the attack.

The Reading Eagle reports Carrero has a history of mental illness.