According to the court documents, the defendant, later identified as 61-year-old David, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole after he killed the 28-year-old woman, Kayla, in 2020. During the 1 week trial, prosecutors said that the defendant tied Kayla’s hands and feet before he covered her head with a bag.
The 61-year-old man then beat the young mother to death with a hammer and stabbed her with a knife. During the trial, prosecutors also said that the victim and the defendant knew each other before she was killed. Per reports, the motive for Kayla’s murder stemmed from a member of the drug-using group being arrested.
Both were members of a group that did drugs together. Earlier that year, one of David’s friends and a member of that group was arrested and he believed it was because Kayla talked with authorities. The 61-year-old man then tied Kayla’s feet and hands before he put a bag over her head. The defendant then grabbed a hammer and beat the woman before he stabbed her with a knife several times.
During an interview with investigators, a witness, who was not identified, reportedly said that the 28-year-old mother was screaming that she just wanted to go home to be with her baby while David was beating and stabbing her. Shortly after the murder, David tossed Kayla’s body into a river. Authorities said that when her body was recovered, her remains were too decomposed for the medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death.
