The victim was stabbed 20 times.
Frederick, Md (KM) It’s off to prison for a Jefferson woman who killed her grandmother. Hestina Lakeisha Harrris, 20, was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison for fatally stabbing Lillie Morris, 67, in December, 2014.
But the judge denied a request from the prosecution to deny parole for Harris. However, State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says it will be difficult for Harris to get parole. “That’s a sentence of life, and she cannot get out prison without the governor paroling her. So we’re happy with the outcome,” he says.
Harris was convicted in March, 2016, of 1st-degree murder and 1st-degree assault for the slaying of her mother, who was stabbed 20 times.
On December 23rd, 2014, Morris was found in outside of the house in Burkittsville that she shared with her husband, Harris and Harris’ baby daughter. “We could never provide a motive in this particular case, whether she was just angry at a conversation that went on; we’re not sure. But fortunately for us, we don’t have to prove motive in order to prove our case because oftentimes, we don’t know why these things happen,” says Smith.
Smith says he was in the courtroom when sentencing was handed down. “It was a very difficult sentencing. The entire one side of the courtroom was filled with family and friends of Hestina Harris. And the other side essentially no one for the victim,” he says.
But Smith says his staff stood up for Morris. “We put up a slide show telling a little bit about her life, about what a great person that she was,” he says. “Obviously, no one deserves to be killed, much less in the manner she did, very degrading, brutal, horrifying stabbing. We’re happy with the sentence of life for Hestina Harris.”
Circuit Court Judge Scott Rolle, a former prosecutor, presided over the sentencing. According to the Associated Press, Rolle told Harris he could not understand why she had no remorse for killing Lilly Morris.