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Background: Patricia Ann Ricks at her sentencing on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 (WRAL/YouTube). Inset: Christal Lane, the 8-year-old granddaughter of Patricia Ann Ricks (WRAL/YouTube).
With schoolteachers and family gathered in the courtroom, North Carolina grandmother Patricia Ann Ricks was handed a life sentence on Friday for beating her 8-year-old granddaughter to death in 2023. According to cops, the young girl suffered “severe injuries throughout her entire body and head” to the point where there was no chance to save her life at the hospital.
“It was emotional for all parties involved,” Nash County sheriff’s detective Sgt. Kevin Bissette told the Rocky Mount Telegram about the sentencing, which was attended by the family of victim Christal Lane, who was killed in February 2023 by Ricks. The 74-year-old showed up in a wheelchair and was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole as part of an Alford plea for first-degree murder.
For an Alford plea, criminal defendants are allowed to maintain their innocence while admitting that the state’s evidence against them is strong enough to convince a judge or jury of their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors were reportedly seeking the death penalty before Ricks agreed to the plea deal.
“There will never be justice with this because it was an 8-year-old,” Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone told the Telegram. “And that’s something that touches the community and especially people that knew this fine little girl.”
Ricks was accused of beating Lane at a residence on Dutchman Rd. in Nashville, North Carolina, where the girl lived with her other siblings under her care.
“On Tuesday 02-07-2023 shortly after 4:00pm, the Nash County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a juvenile that was brought into the Emergency Room at Nash UNC Healthcare with severe injuries and was deceased upon arrival,” police officials reported in a press release. “Deputies and Detectives responded to the hospital to further investigate.”
Police said they went to the crime scene after finding out where the girl was living and determined that Lane was beaten to death.
“The child had severe injuries throughout her entire body and head,” the sheriff’s office said. “The child lived with the grandmother, and several other siblings on Dutchman Road, as the grandmother was the legal guardian of the children.”
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Rick’s son appeared at her sentencing via an online video and gave testimony in her favor, according to the Telegram. A motive was never provided by police for Lane’s fatal beating.
“Although there is nothing that could possibly heal the wounds inflicted by this tragedy on Christal’s family, we sincerely hope that this brings some closure to all involved,” Nash County District Attorney Jeff Marsigli said in a statement.
The surviving children that were under Ricks’ care were placed in the custody of Nash County Department of Social Services after Lane’s death.