A 44-year-old Seaside woman, Corrie Denise Arriaga, was sentenced Friday 12/13/19 to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of a dependent adult in 2017.
The guilty plea by Arriaga included an admission that the murder was "intentional and involved the infliction of torture," according to the District Attorney's Office, a special circumstance that factored into the sentence.
The victim, 33-year-old Courtney Ann Turney, moved to Monterey County from Oklahoma in 2008. Turney attended special education classes due to complications during her birth.
Investigators found that Arriaga physically abused and imprisoned Turney in their apartment, starved her and made her perform physical labor. Arriaga also embezzled large amounts of money that Turney received from the Comanche Nation.
Evidence introduced at the trial showed that Turney was held in Arriaga's apartment up until her death on Aug. 4, 2017. Turney's body was discovered the next day.
Examination showed that Turney, who weighed about 230 pounds when she came to California, weighed 54 pounds at the time of her death. She had a fractured skull, rib fractures, pressure ulcers and "bruising and swelling consistent with blunt force trauma," the prosecution said.
Arriaga was arrested on May 18, 2018.
Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Manuel Jesus Lopez Jarquin of Seaside separately pleaded guilty to abuse of a dependent adult causing great bodily injury and accessory after the fact in the murder. His case is pending.
California law defines a dependent adult as any person between the ages of 18 and 64 who has physical or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights including but not limited to persons who have physical or developmental disabilities or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of age.
From SFGate, Monterey Herald.
The guilty plea by Arriaga included an admission that the murder was "intentional and involved the infliction of torture," according to the District Attorney's Office, a special circumstance that factored into the sentence.
The victim, 33-year-old Courtney Ann Turney, moved to Monterey County from Oklahoma in 2008. Turney attended special education classes due to complications during her birth.
Investigators found that Arriaga physically abused and imprisoned Turney in their apartment, starved her and made her perform physical labor. Arriaga also embezzled large amounts of money that Turney received from the Comanche Nation.
Evidence introduced at the trial showed that Turney was held in Arriaga's apartment up until her death on Aug. 4, 2017. Turney's body was discovered the next day.
Examination showed that Turney, who weighed about 230 pounds when she came to California, weighed 54 pounds at the time of her death. She had a fractured skull, rib fractures, pressure ulcers and "bruising and swelling consistent with blunt force trauma," the prosecution said.
Arriaga was arrested on May 18, 2018.
Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Manuel Jesus Lopez Jarquin of Seaside separately pleaded guilty to abuse of a dependent adult causing great bodily injury and accessory after the fact in the murder. His case is pending.
California law defines a dependent adult as any person between the ages of 18 and 64 who has physical or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights including but not limited to persons who have physical or developmental disabilities or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of age.
From SFGate, Monterey Herald.
Courtney was my niece and she did not deserve this. Corrie should have gotten the death penalty as fast as I'm concerned!!!! Rip Courtney Ann u will forever be missed and loved!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is just horrible. Im so sorry she suffered like that. :(
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