Man gets life in prison for scaring woman to death

Tools

Story Published: Nov 21, 2009 at 11:12 AM PDT

By Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - A man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was found guilty in what prosecutors said was a case of scaring a 79-year-old North Carolina grandmother to death.

Multiple media outlets reported a federal jury found 21-year-old Larry Whitfield not guilty of murder Friday in the death of Mary Parnell last year. But they did find him guilty of causing her death by kidnapping her, and that carries an automatic life sentence.

Prosecutors say Whitfield was looking for somewhere to hide after a failed bank robbery attempt in Gastonia in September 2008 when he broke into Parnell's home.

Authorities say Whitfield never touched the grandmother, but she suffered a heart attack when she saw him, and he didn't call for help.

More national news

Current Weather

Current Temp 33.0 °F

Partly Cloudy

Video

More Weather

Current Weather

More Weather

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.