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East L.A. woman sentenced to 15 years to life in beating death of 82-year-old grandmother

Rebecca Surratt, 28, was sentenced at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Rebecca Surratt, 28, was sentenced at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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An East Los Angeles woman was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years to life behind bars in connection with the death of her 82-year-old grandmother in 2016.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge handed down Rebecca Surratt’s state prison sentence immediately after the 28-year-old pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree murder as part of a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors, according to court records.

Prosecutors said Surratt got into an argument with her grandmother, Martha Yslas, inside a home in the 300 block of Woods Avenue in East Los Angeles on May 6, 2016. The fight escalated to a physical altercation and Surratt beat the woman, authorities said.

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Surratt lived with her mother and grandmother at the time.

“As far as we can tell, she got upset at her grandma and beat her up,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Theo Baljet said in 2016. “She punched her and kicked her and possibly choked her.”

Yslas was taken to the hospital with multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at 10:22 a.m. the day after the attack, according to coroner’s records.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry

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