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Tina L. Morris was sentenced Friday morning to 60 years in prison for stabbing an IPFW student to death.
Morris, 36, pleaded guilty Aug. 20 to a single charge of murder, and as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, additional charges of felony murder, robbery and auto theft were to be dismissed at sentencing today.
Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull gave Morris the maximum prison sentence under the plea agreement.
On April 18, 22-year-old Liette "Lola" Martinez, a New Mexico native, was found stabbed to death inside student housing at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Morris was arrested in Indianapolis less than 36 hours later, driving Martinez's 2006 Mazda.
The decision to plead guilty came after two court-appointed mental health experts examined Morris and found her sane. With that determination, her court-appointed attorney Anthony Churchward told the court they would not proceed with a defense of insanity or mental illness.
Morris' daughter was one of Martinez's two roommates in Building H of the university-owned apartments. Morris had been staying with her daughter for about two weeks, sleeping on the women's sofa, unbeknownst to university officials.
According to court documents, Morris told police she was angry with Martinez about how she thought the younger woman spoke to her daughter. The two argued and Morris picked up a knife from Martinez's desk. Martinez struggled with Morris for the knife, and Morris jerked the knife away and stabbed Martinez in the neck.
She then went into the kitchen and grabbed a pan of hot water, threw the water on Martinez and hit her in the face with the pan. After she changed her clothes, Morris took Martinez's car keys, found her car in the parking lot and left the area, according to court documents.
rgreen@jg.net
