A Casa Grande woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her 13-year-old daughter. Connie Villa was sentenced to life without parole, plus 155.5 years for killing the teen, and trying to poison her three other children.
Villa forced her children -- ages 3, 5, 8 and 13 -- to take "prescription narcotic drugs in an attempt to kill them" on Christmas Day in 2013. Aniarael Macias, 13, was found dead in the bathroom of her family's home in Casa Grande.
"Connie Villa will spend the rest of her life behind bars for these horrific acts against her children," said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. "We wanted justice for the victims, who were attacked by their own mother on Christmas Day. The victims were consulted throughout the process and fully supported the resulting plea. No child should ever have to go through this, my heart continues to ache for the victims.”
Authorities were called to a home at the Colony Apartments in Casa Grande on Christmas night after the woman's ex-husband, 33-year-old Adam Villa, called police and said that he had been stabbed by his ex-wife.
He told police he was driving himself to the Casa Grande Regional Medical Center.
Officers forced themselves into the mother's apartment and found her holding a knife to her chest and suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to a police press release. The woman's three other children were standing unharmed at her side.
Authorities secured the scene and transported both the mother and children to Phoenix-area hospitals. The three children each had "trace amounts" of opiates in their systems.
