MOHAVE COUNTY — A man fired nine rounds with three bullets striking his octogenarian mother at the home they shared in Dolan Springs five months ago, and left her unattended for an hour before her friend arrived at the residence in the 18000 block of Mariposa Drive. That’s part of the factual basis provided for the plea agreement entered Friday for Randolph Cornell, 64.
Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Anita Mortensen said that Cornell confronted the male friend who tried to help the wounded woman.
“Cornell then allegedly assaulted the friend and broke his cell phone,” Mortensen said. “The friend then went to a local establishment where he called for help.”
The victim, Lorraine Cornell, 81, was flown to a Las Vegas hospital where she died of her gunshot wounds.
Public defender Paul Amann said his client was his mother’s sole care-giver at the time of the incident and was intoxicated during the argument turned deadly.
“He indicated that she was speaking to him in a derogatory manner and, after years of verbal abuse, he stated that he could not take it any longer,” Cornell said, according to Amann. “He said it is hard to take that kind of abuse, but it is especially hard when it comes from your own mom.”
Cornell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree murder.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been in trouble. Has that been taken under consideration,” Cornell queried at the hearing. “I’ve got COPD really bad. I’ve had that for ten years.
Terms of the deal require the Court to impose a 21-year prison term. Judge Doug Camacho scheduled an August 18 sentencing hearing.
