Sander’s grandmother Mary Muha was found dead in her Washington Twp. home on Sugarside Court, on Dec. 20, 2011. Law enforcement officials said Sanders killed Muha and stole her TV.
At the time, investigators said they believed the crime was a homicidal attack fueled by a crack cocaine addiction. Sanders sold the TV for money to buy drugs. Sanders told detectives she had been partying since Dec. 18 when she beat her grandmother, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said.
He said Sanders had been living off and on in her grandmother’s house. “She pretty much drained all the finances,” Plummer said at the time of her indictment. The sheriff said he thought Sanders went into a rage and beat the woman because there was no money for drugs.
She took Muha’s car and was picked up by Ohio State Patrol troopers the next day in Preble County when she ran out of gas.
Plummer said in December that Sanders gave detectives a full, written confession in the killing. A county grand jury later returned an indictment on two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of tampering with evidence.
Sanders originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in January, but was found competent to stand trial in March.
“Here again, we see the devastating effects of drug and alcohol abuse,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck. “This defendant violently murdered her 86-year-old grandmother.”
Because the aggravated murder charges are unclassified felonies, Sanders could be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
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