25 Years to Life Given in Death of Unborn Child
A 35-year-old San Pedro woman convicted of deliberately running over a pregnant acquaintance and killing her unborn child has been sentenced in Long Beach Superior Court to 25 years to life in prison.
Superior Court Judge Charles Sheldon ordered the prison term for Brenda Sue Franklin, 35, on a Sept. 22 conviction of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Jurors found Franklin guilty of driving over Barbara Ochoa, who was in her early 40s, and dragging the victim six blocks, inflicting massive road burns and fracturing her pelvis. Ochoa delivered a stillborn child the next day.
The prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Cynthia Zuzga, said the two women had engaged in a angry, drug-related argument on June 10, when Franklin jumped into her car, gunned the engine and drove at Ochoa, who was standing near the front of the auto.
Ochoa, who is still in the hospital, was not called to testify because of her injuries and post-birth depression, Zuzga said.
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