Sydney Powell and her mother, Brenda Powell (Summit County Sheriff's Office: Akron Children's Hospital)
A 23-year-old woman in Ohio may spend the rest of her days locked up for killing her mother, brutally beating her over the head with an iron skillet before grabbing a steak knife and stabbing her in the neck more than two dozen times.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Kelly McLaughlin on Thursday ordered Sydney Powell to serve a sentence of 15 years to life in a state correctional facility for the 2020 slaying of 50-year-old Brenda Powell, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the office of Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh, a jury found Powell guilty on Sept. 20 of two counts of murder — special felonies, one count of second-degree felonious assault, and one count of third-degree tampering with evidence.
"In March of 2020, Powell struck Brenda Powell in the head with an iron skillet, then stabbed her nearly 30 times in the neck," prosecutors wrote in the release.
During her trial, prosecutors indicated that Powell attacked her mother because Powell had been suspended from attending Mount Union University due to poor academic performance, a secret she did not want her mother to learn about, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
At the time of the slaying, Brenda Powell — a child life specialist at Akron Children's Hospital Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders — was on the phone with Associate Dean of Students Michelle Gaffney and Dean of Students John Frasier.
Associate Dean Gaffney testified in court earlier this month about what happened while they were on the phone with Powell's mom.
"The phone cut off at some point after, I would say, somewhere in the neighborhood of six or seven of those thudding, those sort of thud sounds, and the screaming had continued," he said, according to a report from NBC News.
The line cut out, so Gaffney and Frasier called back, and another woman picked up the phone, claiming that she was Brenda Powell.
"The voice on the other end said, 'Yes, this is Brenda. Yes, this is Brenda,' "Gaffney testified. "It was not Brenda. I was sure it was Sydney. Both Dean Frasier and I looked at each other and sort of shook our heads at each other and said that's not Brenda. He then said, 'Sydney, I think this is you. This is not Brenda.' The phone [then] went dead."
The two school administrators called 911 and requested a welfare check on the Powell household.
Powell's attorneys argued that she was a diagnosed schizophrenic amid a psychotic break when she attacked her mother and was found not guilty by reason of insanity, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Her defense team called three psychiatrists who concurred with this notion, but prosecutors called their clinical psychologist, who testified that Powell's actions did not align with the actions of someone having a psychotic break.
"The best source of information for an insanity evaluation is what was said and felt at the time of the incident," Dr. Silvia O'Bradovich said, according to Court TV. "It just didn't add up to schizophrenia."
Powell chose not to speak during the hearing due to an ongoing appeal of the trial verdict. However, she was emotional throughout the hearing and could be seen crying multiple times.
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