Background: News footage of Adam Crespo in court on Oct. 31, 2025, during his sentencing hearing (WTVJ). Inset: Silvia Galva (GoFundMe).
A Florida man who killed his girlfriend with a spear that was used as decoration in their bedroom has been sentenced to life in prison.
Adam Crespo, 49, was found guilty of murder by a jury in August, six years after the violent death of 32-year-old Silvia Galva. As Law&Crime previously reported, Crespo told police who responded to the bloody scene on July 12, 2019, that Galva "must have grabbed onto the spear" while the couple were having a fight on their bed.
Crespo and his attorneys attempted to convince jurors that Galva accidentally ran herself through with the 12-inch spear. After deliberating for less than two hours, they found him guilty of murder.
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Local NBC affiliate WTVJ was in the courtroom on Friday when Judge Andrew Siegel told Crespo that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. According to WTVJ's reporting, the judge said that he did not believe Crespo showed any remorse for what happened to Galva.
During the trial, both sides brought in experts and performed reenactments of what they believed happened to Galva, including a replica of the couple's bed. According to prosecutors, the blade had impaled Galva and pierced the sheets that were underneath her. Medical examiners testified for the prosecution that the only way such a wound could occur was with intentional force, indicating a homicide.
Assistant State Attorney for the Broward State Attorney's Office Jaclyn Broudy said Crespo "was a person who very clearly is guilty of second-degree murder, very clearly had an ill will, a hatred, a spite against [Galva]. He was p—ed off and wanted her out."
Crespo's defense attorney Christopher O'Toole disagreed with the prosecution's version, saying, "There is no physical evidence, there is no evidence Adam gripped that spear and used it. Why is there no physical evidence? Because it was an accident. There's not going to be physical evidence that there was a murder."
According to police, Crespo said that he had turned his back during his fight with Galva and "heard a snap." When he saw Galva with the blade buried in her chest, he pulled it out, "hoping it was not too bad." He then yelled for his neighbor to call 911 while he put pressure on Galva's traumatic chest wound.
At his sentencing, Crespo did not react when he learned of his life sentence. He told the court, "I still love her and I regret my actions that night."