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Friday, March 28, 1997

Principal's daughter pleads no contest to killing mother

By KELLEY SHANNON

Associated Press Writer

FLORESVILLE, Texas (AP) - The teen-age daughter of a school principal pleaded no contest to murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday for shooting her mother point-blank in the back of the head.

Maggie Ward must serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Miss Ward was charged with the Feb. 26, 1996, death of her mother, Janet Ward, 47, who was shot with a .38-caliber pistol at the family's home in Poth.

Police have alleged Miss Ward's close relationship with a teen-age girl bothered her mother. Mrs. Ward, a teacher and licensed Assemblies of God minister, was planning to take her daughter to Austin the day of the shooting to live with family friends.

A tearful Miss Ward told reporters that her girlfriend actually pulled the trigger and also should have been brought to justice. Previously, Miss Ward has confessed to being the shooter.

"I watched my mom die and now I've got to sit in a cell with nothing and pay for it," she said. "I didn't kill my mom and I love her and I hope the whole world knows."

District Attorney Lynn Ellison was unmoved by Miss Ward's claim of an accomplice.

"This is the first time that I've heard that story," Ellison said. "There's absolutely no evidence that connects any other individual to this crime other than Maggie Ward."

Miss Ward, now 17, was 16 at the time of the killing. She had been certified to stand trial as an adult and could have faced up to 99 years or life in prison.

In the months after the killing, Tom Ward, Maggie's father and Janet's husband, urged that his daughter receive psychiatric treatment, not a prison sentence. He claimed she was suicidal at the time of the attack.

Ward, who was the principal at Poth High School, said his daughter had emotional problems and had been seeing therapists. Ward is now a Port Aransas middle school principal.

Defense attorney Kirk Sherman has described Maggie Ward as a "clearly mentally ill girl."

The day of the shooting police found her curled up in a fetal position in the front seat of her mother's car, her hands covering her ears. She claimed she fired the gun accidentally.

"I did not mean to shoot her. My finger slipped on the trigger," a police affidavit quoted her as saying during her arrest.

Sherman said he hopes his client is sent to a prison unit where she can continue to receive psychiatric treatment and medication.

"I think the best that could be done for her has been done. ... She didn't want to spend the rest of her life in prison," he said. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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