2 Women Are Sentenced in Fatal Beating of Girl
A woman convicted of murder for urging a little girl’s mother to beat the devil out of the child has earned a “special place in hell” for the fatal paddling, a judge said Wednesday.
In handing down a sentence of 26 years to life in prison, Superior Court Judge Charles Horan also likened defendant Julia Ann Olivas, 36, of Baldwin Park to the notorious Charles Manson.
“I can only surmise that if there is a special place in hell for those who torture children, you’ve earned your ticket,” Horan said. “You’ll be there, madam.”
Horan imposed the same punishment on co-defendant Esther Griggs, 43, a friend of Olivas.
Five-year-old Breeann Spickard was beaten in July 1996 by her mother, Deborah Reynolds, at the direction of Olivas. Believing the child was possessed because she would not stop doing cartwheels in the living room, Reynolds and Griggs held the girl for hours while administering the bloody beating.
At one point, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven Slavitt, Griggs “put her foot in the little girl’s mouth so she wouldn’t cry out.”
Reynolds, 34, pleaded guilty on Oct. 8 to second-degree murder and testified against Olivas and Griggs. She faces 15 years to life in prison when sentenced Nov. 24.
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