TAMPA, Fla. (TCN) — A 72-year-old woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her sister, whose body was found in a shallow grave in their backyard in 2021.
Debra Patton was sentenced on Feb. 16, WFTS reports, after a jury deliberated for an hour and found her guilty of second-degree murder on Jan. 14. WTVT reports it took more than 4 1/2 years for the case to go to trial. There were multiple delays in court proceedings, and Patton spent two years in a mental health hospital after being deemed incompetent to stand trial.
According to the prosecution, WTVT reports, Patton shot her sister, Karen Pais, in May 2021 and then buried her a foot deep in the yard of the home they shared. Authorities did not release a motive, but prosecutors say Patton reportedly lived at the home without paying rent and her relationship with Pais had become fractured…