Woman, 19, Gets Prison in Murder of Grandmother

A young Los Alamitos woman was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in prison for her role in the grisly killing of her grandmother, who was stabbed 36 times during a frenzied attack in her home 2 1/2 years ago, authorities said.

Prosecutors argued that Jessica Richards, 19, aided and abetted the slaying of Jean E. Richards, 62, in December 1997 because the teen was tired of living under her grandmother’s rules, said Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Walt Schwarm.

Jessica Richards was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder earlier this year. Her boyfriend, Brian Mote, also 19, is scheduled to face trial in August for his alleged connection with the killing. Richards argued in court that she suffered from manic depression and was not taking her medication around the time of the killing.

Jean Richards started raising her granddaughter after the girl’s mother was killed in a car crash in the 1980s. Relatives said the two quarreled frequently in the weeks leading up to the killing and that Jessica threatened several times to kill her grandmother.

Concerned, family members tried in vain to have the girl, who they said was involved in “devil worship,” placed in foster care or a home for troubled teens, officials said.

A day after the slaying, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police discovered Jessica Richards and Mote sleeping in the grandmother’s Toyota Camry, authorities said.