A 28-year-old Texas woman admitted through tears she was out of her mind and believed her grandmother was performing witchcraft on her when she brutally killed her.
Tamera Laws, 28, faces life in prison if convicted in the beating, strangling, and stabbing death of 70-year-old Doris Novella, WOAI-4 reported. During her testimony, Laws said she had no reason to murder the woman who raised her.
"Because she's never done anything to me for me to want to kill her for," Laws said.
However, Laws became convinced that her Novella wanted to hurt her.
"I know grandma's trying to kill me," Laws testified. "I was afraid my grandma was doing witch craft on me. Because that's what my dad told me."
Laws was addicted to meth at the time of the 2020 slaying and testified that she was hearing voices, NBC-15 reported. The voices told her that people, including Novella, were trying to kill her.
It was in this state that Laws said she spoke to her father, who she said told her that her grandmother was performing witchcraft on her and wanted to hurt her.
"I remember telling him, 'Are you (obscenity) telling me to kill my grandma right now?'" she said.
She said she began beating Novella because "I thought the energy was on me, so I was thinking to get it off, I had to beat it out."
Laws testified that she hit Novella five times with a hammer, choked the woman and then stabbed her in the throat, NBC-15 reported.
Laws is having a bench trial and Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl is expected to have a verdict this week.
