A Pennsylvania man will spend up to four decades behind bars after pleading guilty in the Pennsylvania stabbing death of his former girlfriend, a crime prosecutors said stemmed from jealousy.
Samuel Lopez-Ordones, 34, admitted to third-degree murder in the killing of 27-year-old Daniela Allende, according to a report by the Reading Eagle. A judge sentenced him to 20 to 40 years in state prison — the maximum penalty allowed under Pennsylvania criminal law for that charge.
Lopez-Ordones had initially faced first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and related felony charges, court records reviewed by Law&Crime indicate. Those charges were dismissed as part of a negotiated plea agreement, a common outcome in serious violent crime cases where defendants accept responsibility in exchange for reduced exposure to life imprisonment.
Investigators said the couple had been in a relationship for approximately 10 years before Allende ended it in January 2025 and asked Lopez-Ordones to move out of the family home on the 1200 block of Amity Street in Reading. The residence had been shared with their children and members of Allende’s family.
Authorities said Lopez-Ordones’ behavior escalated in the days following the breakup. Court documents obtained by the local newspaper state that he placed a GPS tracker on Allende’s vehicle and argued with her about how often he would see their children.
On Jan. 29, 2025, Lopez-Ordones allegedly used the tracking device to follow Allende to a restaurant parking lot, where he saw her with another man. When she returned home about 45 minutes later, he followed again, police said.
According to authorities, he confronted her, asking, “Who was that guy?” She responded by telling him to “just stop.”
Lopez-Ordones later told police he saw a knife nearby, picked it up, and stabbed Allende “as a joke,” not realizing until afterward that he had stabbed her deeply in her chest, the Reading Eagle reported.
After the stabbing, he went upstairs and told the victim’s sister that he “did something bad and hurt your sister,” investigators said.
The sister discovered Allende lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor and called 911. Allende’s father and brother restrained Lopez-Ordones on a sofa inside the home until police officers arrived.
He has remained in custody at the Berks County Correctional Facility since Jan. 30, 2025. Online court records have not yet been updated to reflect the plea and sentencing.
