N.Y. Aunt Is Killed With Meat Cleaver by Niece She Took In, Who Also Raped Underage Boy

A New York City woman who killed her aunt with a meat cleaver two years ago will spend the next 23 years in prison.

PEOPLE learns that on Tuesday, 32-year-old Elizabeth Sanchez received her sentence for the brutal murder.

A statement from the Queens District Attorney’s Office confirms that Sanchez accepted a deal from prosecutors back in June, which is when she pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing Maria Palaguachi, 50.

The March 18, 2017, killing occurred inside Palaguachi’s home in Jamaica, Queens.

Palaguachi’s own daughter discovered her dead from her wounds.

Sanchez and the victim shared the residence. The statement indicates that “the victim was struck multiple times on the head, back and shoulder” with the meat cleaver.

The investigation into Sanchez’s aunt’s death revealed the killer committed additional crimes.

The statement says that, between December 2016 and March 2017, Sanchez forcibly raped a teenager three times. The victim was younger than 15 at the time of the assaults.

As part of her plea deal, Sanchez pleaded guilty to a single charge of second-degree rape, for which she was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months to 7 years in prison.

“The sentences are to run concurrently and to be followed by five years’ post release supervision,” the statement notes.

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According to acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan, the victims’ families are still recovering from Sanchez’s criminal actions.

“This defendant brutally took the life of her close relative, someone who took her into her home when the woman did not have a place to stay,” Ryan said.

“This was a brutal attack that has traumatized an entire family,” he concluded.