BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE— A 35-year-old Starke woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading to killing her sister by two stab wounds to the victim’s chest.
Amanda Lee Godwin pleaded no contest to the March 21, 2021, offense of second-degree murder.
According to an arrest report, the victim: Rachel Combs and the defendant were sisters, living together in northeastern Bradford County near Old Lawtey Road.
The Bradford deputy first to arrive on the scene said he saw the victim lying face up in a pool of blood.
Deputy Jared Mallard wrote that Godwin was sitting next to the victim, covered in blood and screaming “she was going to hurt me.”
Mallard added that he administered CPR to the victim until medics arrived. Combs was pronounced dead at the scene.
A sergeant arriving on the scene said he heard Godwin crying hysterically and saying, “it’s all my fault” and “save my sister.”
Detective James Crews wrote in the arrest report that he interviewed the women’s aunt who owned the home where the sister’s resided.
“(The aunt) stated she has taken care of both girls all their lives and looked at them more as daughters,” wrote Crews.
The aunt told Crews that she heard yelling outside of her residence that sounded like it was coming from the driveway. When walking outside to investigate, she passed Godwin who was walking into the house. Combs, who was still outside told the aunt, “She hit me with a rake.”
Combs was at that time holding the rake and threatening to retaliate with the yard tool against her sister.
“Amanda came back outside stating, “Where’s my keys?” continued Crews in the report.
The aunt said that while she was looking for Godwin’s keys in the yard, she heard Combs scream, “she stabbed me.”
“(The aunt) stated when she turned around, she saw Amanda with the knife, and proceeded to ‘jerk’ the knife from Amanda’s hand, then threw it in the grass,” Crews wrote.
The detective added that while the aunt called 911, Godwin rendered aid to her sister.
Crews also wrote that Godwin initially invoked her right to an attorney before being questioned. However, she later said, “I would have never done anything to her, but she came at me with a rake. Just give me a life sentence.”
