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Lataya Powell expresses feelings of “guilt” when questioned by a reporter after her arrest on March 29, 2024 (WBRE/WYOU screengrab)
A 13-year-old girl in Pennsylvania allegedly stabbed her mother to death in the middle of the day last Friday and then told a news reporter on scene that she felt “regret, guilt, and self-disgust” as she was led into a police van in handcuffs.
The suspect, identified publicly as Lataya Powell since she was charged as an adult with criminal homicide and other offenses, stands accused of repeatedly and fatally stabbing her 44-year-old mother Tameeka Tucker in the “torso and head area” and wounding an 11-year-old boy at their Wilkes-Barre home.
The Wilkes-Barre Police Department said that they responded to the scene just after 12:30 p.m. on Good Friday and found Powell’s mother “nonresponsive” at the South Sherman Street residence.
“The initial investigation determined that the 44 YOA Victim was suffering from apparent wounds to the torso and head area and was nonresponsive. A second victim and the suspect were also located at the scene. The second victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment,” cops said.
The 11-year-old boy who survived the stabbing attack was reportedly found wounded on a couch inside the home.
The suspect, on the other hand, was allegedly found sitting on a bedroom floor with blood on her hands.
More Law&Crime coverage: Stepdad came home to find high school math teacher wife shot to death and 14-year-old daughter holding the murder weapon, sheriff says
According to WBRE/WYOU, police alleged in an affidavit that Powell acknowledged the victim “took” her phone before they had an argument that turned deadly.
“I don’t have my phone because my mom took it before our fight” and “I don’t know how people can do stuff like this and not feel bad about it,” the 13-year-old allegedly said at the scene. She’s reportedly also accused of saying “I’m reason my mom is dead” and “I killed my mom, and she’ll never forgive me if she is alive.”
The Citizens’ Voice further reported Powell saying “I deserve to be in jail.”
The local news affiliates’ cameras were rolling, too, when Powell was taken into custody. Reporter Gianna Galli held up a microphone and asked the suspect directly, “Any emotion at all?”
“Regret, guilt, and self-disgust,” Powell could be heard saying.
The juvenile defendant facing a homicide charge as an adult will also have to fight aggravated assault and evidence tampering counts.
The evidence tampering charge appears to stem from Powell’s alleged admission to tossing the knife used in the slaying in front of a neighboring residence.
