Arkansas defendant gets 36 years after claiming she bludgeoned her 81-year-old grandmother to death to avoid going to hell.
Andrea Wilson (Arkansas Department of Corrections)
An Arkansas woman has been sentenced to 36 years in prison after claiming she bludgeoned her grandma to death with a hammer in order to appease God.
Andrea Lea Wilson, 28, pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, aggravated assault and third-degree battery in connection with the horrific 2018 killing of her 81-year-old grandmother Ruby Ross in Benton County, according to local media reports.
Wilson was originally charged with capital murder, but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge as part of a plea deal, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
She will spend 36 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, with eligibility for parole after 19 years. She must then abide by a 10-year suspended sentence following her release.
On May 15, 2018, Wilson visited her grandmother’s home in Pea Ridge and the two ate dinner together. After the octogenarian went to bed, Wilson entered the room and struck her in the head with a hammer about four times, deputy prosecutor Joshua Robinson said.
She then hid the hammer and other incriminating items in a garbage bag, which she placed in an outbuilding on the property, according to Robinson.
Earlier that day, Wilson struck a cyclist with her car while he was riding on a sidewalk in Bentonville.
The cyclist, identified as Jonathan Hampton, recalled that Wilson tried to drive back towards him after knocking him to the ground but hit a boulder and got stuck, KNWA reported.
Wilson had appeared angry to Hampton and was yelling while inside the vehicle, according to court documents.
But she then got out of her car, suddenly seeming normal again, and asked the cyclist, “Can you help me?”
During subsequent mental evaluations, Wilson claimed that God had told her that she had to make a sacrifice or else she would be sent to hell, prosecutor Robinson said.
She said she believed that day was her last chance to make the sacrifice.
Wilson also stated that she hadn’t been taking her prescribed lithium at the time of the crimes.
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