Woman Sentenced to 6 Years for Killing Lover

A 31-year-old woman who said she strangled her 60-year-old lover to end four years of physical abuse was sentenced Wednesday to six years in state prison.

Shawn May, who lived in Lawndale with Walter Billingsley, pleaded guilty to a single charge of voluntary manslaughter in connection with Billingsley’s death on July 9. Torrance Superior Court Judge Francis Hourigan could have sentenced May to a minimum of three years or a maximum of 11.

According to a probation report, May told police that Billingsley beat her often during their four-year relationship. Billingsley had been beating her in a drunken rage on the morning of July 9 before he passed out on a bed, she said.

May, an admitted alcoholic and drug addict who also was drunk that morning, said that after Billingsley passed out, she realized she “couldn’t take it anymore,” wrapped a leather strap around his neck and choked him to death.

Frightened by what she had done, May then ran to the house behind hers to ask her landlord what she should do, police said. He told her to call 911.

A probation officer urged Hourigan to sentence May to a significant term in prison, warning that she needs treatment to avoid repeating the same mistakes again.

“If the defendant is allowed to remain in the community, she will not work on the alcohol problem, and it is a possibility that she will involve herself in another co-dependency relationship that may again prove fatal.”

May will be eligible for parole in about three years.