Connie Villa, of Casa Grande, was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 155.5 years for killing her 13-year-old daughter and trying to poison her other three children.
Villa pleaded guilty to first degree premeditated murder, four counts of attempted murder, one count of kidnapping, and four counts of child abuse stemming from an incident that occurred on December 25, 2013. On that day, Villa called her ex-husband over to her house to visit their children. When he arrived, she lured him inside the residence and stabbed him in the back and shoulders. He ran out the front door and went to the hospital, and called police.
Villa also gave small amounts of prescription pills to her 3 youngest children in an effort to kill them. Her oldest child, Ania, who was 13 at the time of the murder, refused to take the pills. Villa took her into a bathroom, sat on her, and held her hands over Ania’s mouth and nose until Ania suffocated to death. Shortly thereafter, police arrived and entered the house to find Villa on the bed, surrounded by her three youngest kids, who were sleeping or passed out from the pills. She attempted to stab herself in the chest, and was taken into custody. She was interviewed by police and admitted to the crimes, including the stabbing of her ex, the murder of Ania, and the attempted murders and child abuse of her youngest three kids.
On Monday, after an all-day settlement conference in Pinal County where the victims were present, the defendant entered a guilty plea to all the charges and was sentenced by Judge Jason Holmberg to natural life in prison without parole plus 155.5 years for her crimes.