LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) - A Leavenworth woman has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for beating her mother to death.
Sixty-year-old Victoria Smith was sentenced Friday for intentional second-degree murder in the July 2016 death of Anna Maria Higgins.
The Leavenworth Times reports (https://bit.ly/2gSWZmU ) prosecutors say Smith hit Higgins several times with a flashlight and a three-pound mallet at a home where Smith lived.
Friday’s hearing began with District Judge Gunnar Sundby denying a defense motion to allow Smith to withdraw her no contest plea.
Family members said before sentencing that Smith had a history of abusing Higgins.
Smith told the court she intended only to scare her mother and then “snapped” but she believed she should be sentenced for manslaughter, rather than second-degree murder.
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Information from: Leavenworth (Kan.) Times, https://www.leavenworthtimes.com
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