Inset: Mercia Sneed (Tarrant County Jail). Background: The home in Mansfield, Texas, where Sneed smothered her 9-year-old niece to death (KXAS).
A Texas woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for smothering her 9-year-old niece after moving into her brother's new home with her teenage son when they had no other place to go.
Mercia Sneed, 47, was sentenced to two life terms in prison after a jury convicted her of capital murder in the slaying of young Melodi Sneed in Mansfield, which sits just outside Dallas, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said.
Sneed's brother, Melodi's father, recently bought a home. It was big enough for Sneed and her then-13-year-old son to live in, which was welcome news since they had been living in a motel.
On July 27, 2019, the family gathered to help unpack and celebrate the move. Later that night, after everyone went to sleep, Sneed, her son and Melodi were all in the game room. Sneed told her son to leave.
That's when Sneed took a blue-and-white pillow and pressed it on Melodi's face. She used her body weight to keep the girl under the pillow. It muffled Melodi's screams as Sneed's son looked on from the hallway.
"She fought. She screamed. She tried to stay alive," assistant district attorney Victoria Lydahl told jurors during closing arguments. "But she was only 9."
Sneed removed the pillow from the home before other family members found Melodi dead and called police. She eventually admitted to killing her niece.
"Melodi's family has waited seven years, seven long years," assistant district attorney Charlie Boulware told jurors.
He added: "It's extremely cruel and criminal and there's only one person to blame."
A psychologist hired by the state diagnosed Sneed with schizoaffective disorder and determined that she suffered from delusions, according to a courtroom report from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The case was delayed several times because of competency issues.
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