Lamorie given harshest sentence for toddler’s murder

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Seems no one was satisfied with the outcome of the case of a Lake Havasu City man given a 16-year prison term Friday for the January, 2018 death of his toddler daughter. It was the harshest sentence possible under terms of the plea agreement convicting 24-year old Andrew Lamorie of second-degree murder.

An autopsy concluded that blunt force trauma and severe starvation claimed the life of Gabriella Lamorie who weighed just 17 pounds when she died at the age of 27 months. Judge Billy Sipe said it is disturbing that the victim’s father and mother, 27-year-old Brittany Rodriquez let their daughter suffer so long.

“I can’t imagine that anyone could see a child just wither away, dying clearly over a length of time, and be so lazy, or so unaware or be so immature that they wouldn’t take any action,” Sipe said. Attorneys previously advised the Court that the parents hadn’t taken Gabriella to the doctor in the 15 months that preceded her death.

The defendant’s grandmother told the Court that Gabriella’s death was an “incredibly neglectful mistake” made by youthful parents. She complained that the defendant has been portrayed as a “monster” by local media.

One of Gabriella’s grandmothers, however, said Lamorie was abusive to both the victim and her mother, whose front teeth he knocked out during a domestic violence incident for which he was convicted. She said the defendant was “a menace to society.”

Judge Sipe said it was wrong to characterize Gabriella’s death as a mistake. “This is a homicide, this is a murder,” Sipe said.

Lamorie attorney Robin Puchek emphasized that the defense medical expert concluded that Gabriella died of chronic pneumonia and disputed the medical examiner’s blunt force trauma conclusions. Prosecutor Jacob Cote countered that three other medical experts are convinced her death was a homicide.

Sipe criticized Lamorie for placing Gabriella in timeout in a dark closet full of dangerous items such as a pocketknife, screw driver, jumper cables, power drill, motor oil, marijuana and smoking pipes.

Rodriquez pleaded guilty to an attempted child abuse charge. She faces up to ten years in prison if Judge Sipe accepts her plea agreement during an August 7 sentencing hearing.