Updated at 12:35 p.m. July 2, 2015
A 27-year-old woman was sentenced Thursday to 50 years to life in prison for the 2013 shooting death of her mother in Woodland Hills.
Laura Purviance — whose trial had been set to begin this week — pleaded no contest Tuesday to first-degree murder for the Feb. 13, 2013, killing of her 61-year-old mother, Caroline, and admitted a gun use allegation.
Purviance’s mother, who was a special education teacher in the William S. Hart Union School District, was found dead inside her home in the 5600 block of Mason Avenue on Feb. 14, 2013.
Her daughter was arrested Feb. 22, 2013, by Oregon state troopers at the Valley of the Rogue rest area along Interstate 5, about 13 miles north of Medford, Oregon, and booked four days later by Los Angeles police.
Purviance’s sister, Kathryn, had harsh words for her sibling during the sentencing hearing.
“I want her to suffer every moment of every day for the rest of her miserable life,” Kathryn Purviance said. “She is absolute evil.”
Kathryn added, “If she is ever released, I absolutely know she will kill again.”
Laura Purviance could have faced a maximum of life in prison without the possibility of parole if her case had gone to trial and if she had been convicted of first-degree murder and if jurors had found true the special circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait.
—City News Service