Stabbing Of Elderly Couple Results In 20-Year Sentence

AUSTIN, TX — A woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison this week in the culmination of a case centered on the stabbing of an elderly couple inside their East Austin home.

Morina Haywood, 37, was handed down the lengthy sentence after the May 2018 stabbing, the District Attorney's Office said. Haywood was formally sentenced by Judge David Wahlberg in 167th District Court. The sentence was pursuant to a plea agreement between her attorney and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors noted.

Haywood was charged with attacking a 74-year-old man and his 72-year-old wife in the 5400 block of Claymoor Drive on May 22, 2018. The couple had never met Haywood before she walked into their home and stabbed them, according to prosecutors. Both victims suffered multiple wounds to their face, neck, and upper back. Haywood later admitted that she was high on PCP at the time.

Haywood also pleaded guilty to stabbing two additional people just days prior on May 9, 2018. The judge took those cases into consideration in sentencing Haywood to 20 years in prison with an affirmative finding that she used a deadly weapon, according to the DA's office.

Travis County Assistant District Attorney Coulter Goodman represented the State in the case against Haywood.