Pueblo man pleads guilty to murder in 2015 stabbing

A man accused of a 2015 murder in Pueblo avoided the start of his trial this week by pleading guilty to murder.

Jeffrey Sylvia, 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder after deliberation in the stabbing of his roommate, 30-year-old Mwalula Bwalya on Aug. 6, 2015.

That move came as a surprise to prosecutors, according to the Pueblo Chieftain . Sylvia’s trial was set to start Monday.

According to an arrest affidavit, Sylvia stabbed Bwalya because Bwalya had posted a joke advertisement placing Sylvia for sale on the internet and then teased him about it afterward.

Sylvia’s mother said she woke up to a moaning noise coming from Bwalya’s bedroom and found Sylvia holding a bloody knife. Sylvia pointed the knife at her and told her to go back to her room, the Chieftain reports.

Sylvia’s sentence hasn’t yet been determined.