The former wife of the defendant accused of stabbing and beating to death Deidre (Graham) Silas , a state child protective services worker from Springfield, testified Tuesday in Sangamon County court to seeing Silas lying on the floor of a Thayer, Ill., home, "pleading to God for help."
Amanda Eberwein, once married to Benjamin Howard Reed, charged with Silas' murder, said she saw Reed standing over Silas.
Eberwein also said she tried to pull Reed off Silas but couldn't.
More: DCFS worker from Springfield was 'doing her job protecting kids' on day of fatal stabbing
Eberwein was one of several adults at the home in the 300 block of West Elm Street in Thayer, a village of about 700 people 22 miles south of Springfield, when Silas, 36, an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services worker, responded to the home for a report of abuse and neglect on Jan. 4, 2022.
Tuesday marked the second day of Reed's murder trial and also featured the testimony of Ariel Minor, the mother of the children being reported to DCFS that day, as well as several law enforcement officers who worked the crime scene.
Part of the testimony of Sangamon County Sheriff's Sgt. Amie Robinson included the playing of an interview Reed gave to Robinson and Sgt. Andrew Brashear at the Decatur Police Department just prior to his arrest.
Eberwein testified that she talked briefly to Silas, then denied the DCFS access to her four children.
Silas' former supervisor, Jamie Bramblett, testified Monday that since the environment was a concern, Silas had a responsibility to assess all six children living in the home. Eberwein has three children with Reed and one other child by a previous relationship.
Eberwein recalled that Reed confronted Silas about why she was at the house. Reed, Eberwein said, retrieved a knife from the laundry room, entered the dining room "and then I heard screaming."
In all, Reed stabbed Silas 43 times.
Eberwein said she also saw Reed with a sledgehammer, which he used to strike Silas in the skull.
Eberwein admitted during the trip from Thayer to Reed's mother's apartment in Decatur that "I was scared for my life."
Once in Decatur, Eberwein went with Reed to HSHS St. Mary's Hospital to tend to a cut on his hand. There, Eberwein told medical personnel that "it was not safe for people to be around (Reed), that he had snapped" and that Reed was in need a psychiatric evaluation.
On cross-examination from defense attorney Mark Wykoff , Eberwein admitted she had seen Reed in violent emotional states before.
When Reed couldn't get his psychiatric medication from Heritage Behavioral Health Center in Decatur, he "self-medicated" with cannabis, Eberwein said. She said she was aware of Reed's suicidal thoughts.
Answering questions from Circuit Court Presiding Judge John Madonia after the re-examination, Eberwein said there was "a big difference" in Reed when he consistently took his medication and when he didn't.
Reed acknowledged in the police interview with Thompson and Brashear that it had been two years since he had taken his medication and two to three years since he had seen a doctor at Heritage.
Thompson, in cross-examination, testified that Reed had told officers he heard voices in his head, had PTSD and "had been asking for help."
Minor, who lived in the home with her boyfriend Brandon Eberwein Sr. and their children, testified to seeing Reed choking Silas, who she heard screaming.
Minor gathered her children in the kitchen, where she later saw Reed with a knife and blood "all over him."
Minor testified that Reed also threatened her.
With the state resting its case Tuesday, the defense could call Dr. Terry Killian , a Springfield psychiatrist, as an expert witness to speak on Reed's mental state at the time of the crime.
The state has filed a motion indicating that rebuttal witnesses have been contacted to match Killian's potential testimony.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie .
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Murder suspect's ex-wife was 'scared for my life,' told people at hospital he had 'snapped'
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