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'I beheaded my daughter'
15/03/2007 19:46 - (SA)
Seattle - A mentally troubled woman accused of drowning her six-year-old daughter, cutting off her head and throwing the remains off a Washington state bridge has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
The father of Samara Laverne Spann, 32, told a newspaper in 2005 his daughter routinely called the girl a "devil child".
She belonged to a cult that worshipped late rapper Tupac Shakur as the reincarnation of the 16th century political philosopher Machiavelli.
Spann drowned the girl in a bathtub of her home in an impoverished area near Seattle after seeking advice from someone who was interested in the occult.
She then cut off the girl's head, wrapped a chain around the body, put the girl's remains into a plastic bin and threw it off a bridge somewhere between Seattle and the Oregon border, according to court filings.
The remains of the daughter, Kyeimah, have not been found.
'Reason of insanity'
Under the plea agreement accepted on Wednesday, prosecutors will recommend a 23-year prison term, said spokesperson Dan Donohoe.
Had the case gone to trial, Spann would have pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, said defence lawyer Virginia Faller.
Spann told investigators she was using drugs heavily at the time of the killing, said officials. She also was upset because her daughter kept getting out of bed and interrupting a telephone conversation.
An investigation showed the little girl had been subjected to extensive abuse and had been removed from her mother's care three times in California - where they also had lived - only to be returned each time.
- AP
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