LAKE HAVASU CITY – A sentencing hearing is the only matter left in the prosecution of parents from Lake Havasu City who were charged in the blunt force trauma and starvation death of their toddler daughter. Andrew Lamorie, 24, is already serving a 16-year prison term after pleading guilty to second degree murder.
Attempts to enter plea agreements for co-defendant Brittany Rodriquez, 27, went south for various reasons on a half dozen occasions. Finally, on Sept. 9, a plea deal for Rodriquez was formally accepted by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert.
Rodriquez pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted child abuse by domestic violence. Prosecutor Jacob Cote said the conviction is appropriate under the state theory that Rodriquez failed to take their daughter to the doctor and for failing to protect her from a man she knew to be violent and abusive.
Cote told the Court that no one but Lamorie will likely ever know how blunt force trauma was inflicted upon Gabriela Lamorie was placed in a closet to stop her crying. The 27-month-old victim weighed just 17 pounds when she died in Jan., 2018.
Rodriquez faces a 5-10-year prison term when sentenced on Oct. 15.
- -Dave Hawkins
