A young woman who was taken into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border after her 64-year-old grandmother was found dead at the home they shared in Bell pleaded no contest Friday to voluntary manslaughter.
Sarah Paula Montoya, who was 24 at the time of the crime and is now 27, was immediately sentenced to 26 years in state prison following her plea in connection with the July 18, 2016, killing of her grandmother, Paula Montoya, according to Deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney Robert Villa.
The grandmother of six and great-grandmother of four was found dead on July 21, 2016, in the bathroom of her home in the 6600 block of Pine Avenue during a welfare check by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies. She had been wrapped in plastic and a blanket, authorities said.
Montoya choked her grandmother to death during an argument about the defendant’s boyfriend staying at the house, according to the prosecutor.
Authorities subsequently asked for the public’s help in tracking down Sarah Montoya, whom authorities suspected had fled to Mexico.
Along with the manslaughter charge, Sarah Montoya pleaded no contest to three counts of kidnapping involving three of her four young children, who were found with her when she was detained about two weeks later at the Otay Mesa border crossing. She was arrested the following day by Los Angeles County sheriff’s detectives.