A Texas woman who shot her neighbor and claimed to have drank her blood in 2022 was sentenced to 50 years in prison this week.
Cynthia Ellen Ming, 54, originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but changed her plea to guilty of a lesser murder charge, KWTX-10 reported. The station reported that Ming had a long history of mental health issues before she shot and killed her neighbor, 45-year-old Angie Moore.
"An offender's mental health is certainly a factor we consider, but our first priority must always be the safety and protection of the community," prosecutors Duncan Widmann and Luke McCowan said in a joint statement to KWTX-10.
Although Ming will be eligible for parole in 25 years, the prosecutors said it was unlikely she'd ever leave prison. "This plea agreement achieves the same outcome a conviction for capital murder would have, while eliminating the risks associated with the trial and appeals processes. Those risks often increase in cases involving claims of insanity," the prosecutors in the statement to KWTX-10.
The murder happened in 2022 around midnight. When police arrived, they found Ming naked. KCEN-6 reported that Ming attempted to run from officers into a roadway, and when police fired a stun gun to stop her "the taser was ineffective."
The station quoted an arrest affidavit that said that Ming admitted to entering Moore's home with a shotgun and shooting her.
During Ming's sentencing, Moore's parents read a part of a song written by Moore's 16-year-old son, Conner, KWTX-10 reported: "She was Satan's puppet, and she is going to hell if she doesn't ask God for forgiveness for her sins... She shed my mother's innocent blood ... One day it will be worse for her when she stands before my almighty God."
