Summit County jurors find Sydney Powell guilty of murder in mother's stabbing death

A Summit County jury has found Sydney Powell guilty of killing her mother, Brenda, in March 2020 in their Akron home.

Prosecutors say Sydney stabbed her mother with a steak knife and hit her repeatedly with a cast-iron skillet. But the defense had argued she was not guilty by reason of insanity in the death.

Jurors convicted Sydney, 23 , on two counts of murder — one that means purposely causing a death and the other that involves causing a death as the result of a felonious assault, as well as felonious assault and tampering with evidence.

The former Mount Union University student sobbed openly as the verdicts were read in the Summit County Common Pleas courtroom.

Sentencing will be held Sept. 28. Defense attorney Donald Malarcik declined to comment after the verdict.

Powell could receive a maximum life sentence with possible parole after 15 years and additional time for the evidence tampering conviction.

Steven “Steve” Powell, Sydney’s father and Brenda Powell’s husband, and Betsy Brown, Sydney’s maternal grandmother, had urged prosecutors not to take Sydney’s case to trial and to reach a resolution. Prosecutors, though, moved forward with the trial anyway, saying they would leave it to a jury to decide.

Experts disagree on whether Sydney was insane when she killed her mother

Powell’s trial spanned over three weeks and was divided into two parts. In the first, prosecutors presented evidence on Brenda Powell’s slaying. In the second, several experts testified about whether Sydney was insane when she killed her mother, whom many said was her best friend.

Defense expert James Reardon said Sydney suffered a psychotic break when she killed her mother. He was one of three defense experts who evaluated Sydney and diagnosed her with schizophrenia. They found that, because of this mental disorder, she didn’t understand the wrongfulness of her actions when she killed her mother.

Sylvia O’Bradovich, however, a psychologist hired by prosecutors, disagreed with the three defense experts. She said Sydney didn’t meet the legal definition of insanity at the time of the crime.

O’Bradovich, who is with Summit Psychological Associates, said Sydney does have mental health issues, including borderline personality traits, malingering and an unspecified anxiety disorder.

O’Bradovich was the final witness Monday, followed by closing arguments.

Attorneys give their closing arguments to the jury

Malarcik, Sydney’s attorney, asked jurors to weigh the evaluations of three experts with a combined 50 years of experience versus a psychologist who was testifying for the first time in a trial weighing insanity as a reason for the crime.

Malarcik said the prosecution wanted jurors to believe that Sydney fooled multiple medical experts and others, saying she had to be Meryl Streep, Sigmund Freud and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, referring to an actor, mental health expert and legal expert.

Assistant Prosecutor Brian Stano, however, said Sydney killed her mother because she had just found out Sydney had been kicked out of Mount Union University and didn’t want her secret to be revealed. He said Brenda was on the phone with Mount Union officials when Sydney attacked her.

“Sydney stopped attacking with the pan, presumably went to the kitchen with a knife,” Stano said. “She had to switch weapons and keep attacking her.”

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

Jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jurors find Sydney Powell guilty of killing her mother, Brenda