Trials
BREAKING
Leeds Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder
Kayla Smith, 18, pleaded guilty to murder at Leeds Crown Court in the March 28 stabbing of a 16-year-old girl on Kennerleigh Avenue in Austhorpe. Two adult co-defendants deny the charges. She will be sentenced after their trial.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
A guilty plea to murder is a conviction. It is not the sentence. The judge said the only sentence he can pass is life in prison, and the minimum term is still open. A girl is dead. The two men still on trial have pleaded not guilty, and those pleas are not findings.
Kayla Smith, 18, of Kennerleigh Avenue in Austhorpe, pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday at Leeds Crown Court. She had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and had denied murder. She changed that plea during the trial.
A 16-year-old girl was stabbed in the early hours of March 28 on that street and died. Smith has been remanded in custody. Mr Justice Cavanagh told her the only sentence for murder is life in prison, and that he will decide how long she must serve after the rest of the trial.
Blake Dowling, 18, and Archie Rycroft, 20, are also charged with murder and manslaughter. Both have pleaded not guilty, and their trial is continuing. Prosecutors say Dowling brought the 16-year-old to the house and that Rycroft went there with Smith.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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