Redondo Beach Woman Guilty in Mother’s Death

A Redondo Beach woman has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the killing of her 70-year-old mother and is to be sentenced to 11 years in prison, prosecution and defense lawyers said.

Karen Ellsworth, 46, entered the plea Tuesday in Torrance Superior Court. The district attorney’s office dropped a murder charge against Ellsworth in exchange for her accepting the maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Hall.

Neighbors witnessed a heated argument Dec. 29, 1987, between the women outside their home on North Maria Avenue, police said. Because no one saw the conclusion of the dispute, Hall said Karen Ellsworth might have won acquittal by arguing that she was defending herself from her mother, Irene.

Deputy Public Defender David Delgado declined to discuss Ellsworth’s guilty plea.

According to a police affidavit, Karen Ellsworth told investigators she returned from a Las Vegas vacation to find the home she shared with her mother a mess. Dishes were unwashed, food was not put away and the family dogs were unfed. The two women had a fierce argument, the report says.

Investigators said Ellsworth told them her mother fell and hit her head during or just after the argument. Karen Ellsworth called paramedics. Irene Ellsworth was pronounced dead about an hour later, at South Bay Hospital.

Hall said an autopsy showed that Irene Ellsworth had been struck by a blunt object and that she was not injured in a fall. Karen Ellsworth had no substantial injuries, he said.