16-Year-Old Sentenced in Neighbor’s Death
A 16-year-old Northridge girl was sentenced Thursday to the California Youth Authority for fatally stabbing a 62-year-old neighbor.
The teen-ager, whose 13- and 17-year-old sisters face separate trials for their alleged role in the November, 1991, slaying of Meta Francis Murphy, showed little reaction as Sylmar Juvenile Court Commissioner Jack Gold ordered her confined to the state correctional facility for juveniles.
Under state law, a juvenile can be confined only until his or her 25th birthday, unless the juvenile is tried as an adult. The teen-ager, who bragged to friends about the slaying, could be confined until 2001, when she turns 25.
Prosecutors said that Murphy, who worked at the Panorama City library branch and lived alone, was stabbed 11 times in the back and three times in the chest. Her body was dumped in a closet and covered with several coats.
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