Friday, November 14, 2014
SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman who shot her sleeping female lover twice in the head before smashing her face with a claw hammer was convicted of first-degree murder today.
Erin Everett’s attorneys had argued the March 2011 killing of 21-year-old Tory Minnick was a crime of passion and sought a finding of third-degree murder. Instead, Somerset County Judge D. Gregory Geary agreed with prosecutors who argued the killing was premeditated and sentenced Everett to life in prison.
District Attorney Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser said Everett was angry that Minnick was spending time with an ex-boyfriend.
“You can’t kill someone just because you’re jealous and want them to stay,” she argued.