LOCAL : 2 Women Get 15 Years to Life in ’85 Drowning of Classmate

Two Arleta women were sentenced to 15 years to life today for the murder of a 17-year-old high school classmate who was drowned in a mountain creek because the killers believed she was having affairs with their boyfriends.

Karen Severson and Laura Doyle, both 22, stared forward and showed no emotion when sentenced by Pasadena Superior Court Judge Jack B. Tso. The women were convicted Jan. 31 of the second-degree murder of Michele (Missy) Avila who was drowned Oct. 1, 1985, in a creek in the Big Tujunga Canyon area of the Angeles National Forest.

Severson and Doyle received the maximum sentence for second-degree murder. Tso said the sentences were warranted because of the violence of the crime. “It seems to be a vengeful thing,” Tso said.

Avila’s body was found in the creek by hikers two days after the slaying. The Avila family did not suspect Doyle or Severson in the killing until their arrest nearly three years after the murder when a witness to the slaying finally came forward.

Before the sentences were announced, Doyle’s attorney, Charles Lloyd, and Severson’s attorney, Harold S. Vites, called for leniency because of their youth and because both had troubled childhoods. Severson was 17 and Doyle was 18 at the time of the murder.

The victim’s mother, Irene Avila, attended the sentencing with several family members and urged the judge to sentence her daughter’s killers to the maximum. Choking back tears, Irene Avila called Severson and Doyle “heartless” and said they have shown no remorse since their arrest.

“My life has been shattered forever because of these coldblooded and senseless acts,” she said.