A Pennsylvania mom admitted Wednesday to killing her 3-year-old daughter in 2016, according to multiple reports.Regina Lester, 33, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in the death of Isabel Godfrey. She faces between 20 and 40 years in prison when she is sentenced in June.According tothe York Daily Record, Lester acknowledged that, ahead of the killing inside their mobile home in Jackson Township, she’d smoked marijuana laced with fentanyl, and also used synthetic marijuana and bath salts.“I wasn’t myself,” said Lester, who was also on medication at the time for bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. “I don’t remember anything. I blacked out.”The York Dispatchreportsthat Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kara Bowser said in court that experts had determined Lester committed the killing “under the influence of drugs,” and that the illegal substances had diminished her capacity to kill with intent.Had she been charged with first-degree murder, Lester could have been sent to prison for the rest of her life.Medical examiners determined Isabel died of multiple blunt force trauma.The girl’s body also showed evidence of multiple bite wounds and trauma associated with asphyxia, according tothe Dispatch.WGAL reportsthat, after the murder, Lester was found outside the mobile home, naked and hugging a tree.Regina Lester.Jackson Township Police• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.“I’m sorry — I didn’t mean to do it,” she told the neighbor, according to prosecutors. “You understand I had to get the darkness out of her. I’m sorry.”Lester also approached a different neighbor’s door and told them, “I need to kill your kids.”Outside the courthouse Wednesday, Lester’s attorney Suzanne Smith told reporters her client remains heavily medicated, and has expressed remorse for what she did.“Every day, she lives with, ‘No more daughter,'” the lawyer said, according to theDaily Record.If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
A Pennsylvania mom admitted Wednesday to killing her 3-year-old daughter in 2016, according to multiple reports.
Regina Lester, 33, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder in the death of Isabel Godfrey. She faces between 20 and 40 years in prison when she is sentenced in June.
According tothe York Daily Record, Lester acknowledged that, ahead of the killing inside their mobile home in Jackson Township, she’d smoked marijuana laced with fentanyl, and also used synthetic marijuana and bath salts.
“I wasn’t myself,” said Lester, who was also on medication at the time for bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. “I don’t remember anything. I blacked out.”
The York Dispatchreportsthat Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kara Bowser said in court that experts had determined Lester committed the killing “under the influence of drugs,” and that the illegal substances had diminished her capacity to kill with intent.
Had she been charged with first-degree murder, Lester could have been sent to prison for the rest of her life.
Medical examiners determined Isabel died of multiple blunt force trauma.
The girl’s body also showed evidence of multiple bite wounds and trauma associated with asphyxia, according tothe Dispatch.
WGAL reportsthat, after the murder, Lester was found outside the mobile home, naked and hugging a tree.
Regina Lester.Jackson Township Police
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
“I’m sorry — I didn’t mean to do it,” she told the neighbor, according to prosecutors. “You understand I had to get the darkness out of her. I’m sorry.”
Lester also approached a different neighbor’s door and told them, “I need to kill your kids.”
Outside the courthouse Wednesday, Lester’s attorney Suzanne Smith told reporters her client remains heavily medicated, and has expressed remorse for what she did.
“Every day, she lives with, ‘No more daughter,'” the lawyer said, according to theDaily Record.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go towww.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
