KINGMAN – A Kingman woman has pleaded guilty to first degree murder in the death of her own mother. A plea agreement for Carrie Vanover, 24, was entered during a Wednesday hearing before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.
Terms of the deal are identical to a plea agreement recently entered for Vanover’s boyfriend Mark Baldonado, 32, Kingman. Baldonado was recently sentenced to life in prison, which in this case means that he will have to serve at least 25 years before eligible for release from prison.
The same punishment is specified for Vanover who is scheduled to be sentenced July 10.
Involved attorneys and hearings have revealed that a child custody dispute motivated the April 14, 2019 killing of Shawn Vanover, 64. The elder Vanover previously was granted custody of her daughter’s daughter.
The defendants reportedly admitted they were concerned that the elder Vanover had threatened to try to take custody of their unborn son. Prosecutors have told the Court that they conspired to commit murder to prevent that from happening while also returning the girl from her grandmother.
Deputy county attorney Cameron Patt told Judge Carlisle they planned to use pills to sedate the grandmother before killing her. He said that didn’t work so Baldonado used a hammer to repeatedly strike the victim in the head.
Patt said Vanover still didn’t die so Baldonado retrieved a .38 revolver and a pillow from a bedroom. He said the pillow was placed over the victim’s face and chest as the weapon was fired at least twice.
The victim’s body was placed in a 55-gallon drum that was welded shut and buried in the backyard of a north Kingman property. The body was recovered when a search was executed after an unidentified person provided information to the Mohave County Sheriff’s office.
The defendant’s son was born about one month after the murder. Both children were placed in state care.
- Dave Hawkins
She should get more time than her boyfriend, after all it was her own mother