YORK, Pa. (AP) - A New York City man has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in the beating death of his girlfriend outside her Pennsylvania home more than three years ago.
Edia Lawrence, 21, was convicted in March of second-degree murder, robbery, burglary and related crimes in the March 2017 death of 19-year-old Ahshantianna (ah-shan-tee-AHN’-ah) Johnson in Mount Wolf.
During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, the Bronx native asked whether he had to be in court during victim impact statements by the victim’s family, and the York County judge told him he did. Later, referring to the appeals process, Lawrence said “This is not over. … I’ll be back.”
Northeastern Regional police said three men broke into the cosmetology student’s Mount Wolf home, coerced her mother into calling her daughter to come home, and beat her outside the residence. No one else has been arrested in the slaying.
Lawrence was sentenced Tuesday to the mandatory life term as well as a consecutive 5- to 15-year sentence on a robbery conspiracy count. His mother said she feels for the victim’s family but denied that her son committed the crime, noting that police haven’t arrested the two other men.
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