Barger Pleads Guilty in Shelby County Murder Case

(BARGER)

Five years after the event, the murder case of Deven Barger in Shelby County has come to a close.

Barger Tuesday pleaded guilty to counts of second degree murder and involuntary manslaughter involving a family member. Barger was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on the second degree murder count and up to 14 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter count. Those sentences will run consecutively; they will not run together.

The 30-year-old Barger admitted to the fatal shooting of his girlfriend at a house in Shelbyville in July 2019. The wound also caused the death of the unborn child the woman was carrying. A pursuit followed that traveled into Effingham County and finally ended near Taylorville. Barger had family living near Effingham at the time of the incident.

Seven Class M felony counts related to the murder were dismissed as part of the plea.

Barger's daughter, who was three years old at the time, was with him in his vehicle at the time of the pursuit. Police were aware of that, and conducted their pursuit accordingly.

Barger also pled guilty Tuesday to a separate count of aggravated battery of a peace officer from a 2022 incident when Barger spat in the face and mouth of a correctional officer when being transferred to a different cell. Judge Amanda Ade-Harlow sentenced Barger to up to 14 years in jail for that offense.

Barger was given credit for the more than five years he has spent in custody waiting on disposition of his cases.