Sydney Powell of Akron, Ohio, claims she was out of her mind when she brutally murdered her mother. The jury convicted her anyway, on charges of “murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence.” The now 23-year-old woman killed her mom in March of 2020 “by beating her with an iron skillet and stabbing her dozens of times.”
Mother learned her secret
When then-19-year-old Sydney Powell saw that her mother was on the phone with her school, learning that her daughter had been kicked out of college for poor performance, she lost her mind.
According to police in Akron, Ohio, the young woman “struck Brenda Powell in the head with an iron skillet, then stabbed her nearly 30 times in the neck.”
By the time cops arrived, the 50-year-old mother was fighting for her life. They note she was a “health care worker.” Ms. Powell had been a student at Mount Union University.
VERDICT: Sydney Powell found GUILTY for the murder and felonious assault of her mother, and tampering with evidence. pic.twitter.com/YFP9tz4GXN
— Brandi Churchwell (@BrandiNChurch) September 20, 2023
As reported by the Akron Beacon Journal, she “sobbed in the Summit County Common Pleas courtroom after a jury found her guilty Wednesday,” September 19.
Officers testified at her trial that they found the mother “inside her Scudder Drive home with severe injuries on March 3, 2020.” They took both women to the hospital, “where Brenda eventually died.”
The daughter was treated for superficial defensive wounds then charged with the murder. Prosecutors added that the “child life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital” was ruthlessly attacked while still on the phone with school officials.
Suffered from schizophrenia
At trial, the defendant’s lawyers argued that Sydney “suffered from schizophrenia and therefore could not be held accountable for the murder” of her mother.
Their team of experts made a good try at convincing the jurors she was entirely out of her mind at the time. That didn’t hold up real well.
Dr. James Reardon was one of three experts who testified for the defense. He’s also the one who made the original diagnosis of schizophrenia. In his opinion, Sydney really did suffer “a psychotic break” when she murdered her mother, “whom she had considered her best friend.”
Notice how Sydney Powell stops and checks to see who's watching her, there's nothing but a blank expression on her face that does't fit with her "breakdown" – that's a learned manipulative behaviour. If anything she's shocked that she hasn't gotten away with this. #SydneyPowell pic.twitter.com/Otp3ABxQNu
— Steven McCallum (@SMcCallum93) September 20, 2023
It was a good try but the jury wasn’t convinced. “She had to switch weapons and keep attacking her,” Assistant Prosecutor Brian Stano argued. All because she “didn’t want her secret to be revealed.”
Prosecutors had an expert of their own. Psychologist Sylvia O’Bradovich testified that she “disagreed with the diagnosis and said Sydney didn’t meet the legal definition of insanity at the time of the crime.” There is no doubt that “Sydney suffers from mental health issues, including borderline personality traits, malingering and an anxiety disorder.”
Even so, she knew what she was doing when she murdered her mother. While she may have brained her with the iron skillet in the heat of the moment, going to get knives, then coming back to finish the job was intentional. Her sentencing is set up for September 28 and “could receive a maximum of life behind bars with possible parole after 15 years.” She could also get “additional time for the evidence tampering conviction.“
