AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — A woman who struck her mother in the head with an iron skillet, then stabbed her nearly 30 times in the neck was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

Earlier this month, a Summit County jury found Sydney Powell, 23, of Akron, guilty of two special felony counts of murder, as well as felony counts of assault and tampering with evidence in the death of her mother, 50-year-old Brenda Powell, in March 2020, according to a news release from county Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.

Sydney Powell (Summit County Sheriff’s Office)

Common Pleas Court Judge Kelly McLaughlin on Thursday sentenced Powell to life in prison, with the eligibility for parole after 15 years.

The killing started as a domestic confrontation, Fox News reported. Powell had been dismissed from the University of Mount Union for failing grades, and kept it secret for months before ultimately confessing in March 2020, when she was 19.

Her mother Brenda called school officials, who heard screaming and thuds. Then, the call disconnected. Those officials called police.

Sydney then tried to stage a break-in by shattering a window, Fox News reported.

Sydney’s attorneys put up a defense of insanity, arguing she suffered from schizophrenia and couldn’t tell right from wrong, Fox News reported. A psychologist for the prosecutors acknowledged Sydney was mentally ill, but that she understood right from wrong during the attack.