College Student Was Kicked Out of School. She Stabbed Her Mother to Death So She Wouldn’t Find Out

Sydney Powell, 23, was found guilty of killing Brenda Powell, 50, in March 2020, according to the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office

A jury convicted a 23-year-old former college student on Wednesday for the 2020 murder of her mother, the prosecutor's office in Summit County, Ohio, confirms to PEOPLE.

Sydney Powell, of Akron, was found guilty of charges of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of Brenda Powell, 50, the prosecutor’s office said in a release.

“In March of 2020, Powell struck Brenda Powell in the head with an iron skillet, then stabbed her nearly 30 times in the neck,” according to the release.

The judge is scheduled to sentence Powell, who was 19 at the time of the murder, on Thursday.

Tears streamed down the face of the former Mount Union University student as the Summit County Common Pleas courtroom heard the verdicts, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

According to the outlet, prosecutors said Powell killed her mother because she learned she'd been kicked out of college and didn't want her mother to find out.

After the brutal attack, Brenda, who was a child life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital for almost 30 years, died at the hospital from her injuries, per CourtTV.

Powell was diagnosed with schizophrenia by three defense experts who evaluated her, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. They concluded that she did not comprehend the wrongness of her actions due to the mental disorder.

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In court, prosecutors allowed clinical psychologist Dr. Silvia O’Bradovich to testify in response to the defense’s claim that Powell suffered from the illness.

“The best source of information for an insanity evaluation is what was said and felt at the time of the incident,” O’Bradovich said, per Court TV. “It just didn’t add up to Schizophrenia.”

Describing the incident in court, Assistant Prosecutor Brian Stano said, “Sydney stopped attacking with the pan, presumably went to the kitchen with a knife,” per the Akron Beacon Journal. “She had to switch weapons and keep attacking her," Stano added.

“Just the knife just in the neck multiple times? That is purposeful,” Stano added. “That is trying to end someone.”

St. Vincent-St. Mary High School officials said Powell graduated from the school in 2018, telling Cincinnati.com in 2020: “We are heartbroken by this shocking and tragic event that affects not only the family involved, but all of us who know the young woman and her family.”

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