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Shannon Torrez to Be Sentenced August 4
05/30/2008
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Shannon Torrez, the Lonedell woman who pleaded no contest to charges that she kidnapped a baby after slashing the mother's throat, will be sentenced Monday, Aug. 4, in Franklin County Circuit Court.

Prosecuting Attorney Bob Parks said Circuit Judge Gael Wood set the sentencing date Thursday.

The hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. in Wood's courtroom. Torrez entered an Alford plea May 9, which means she did not admit guilt but concedes that there is sufficient evidence to convict her of the crimes.

Parks said a hearing set for Tuesday was merely to schedule the sentencing hearing. The defense attorney did not show up in court, he said, but did submit some alternate dates which did not work for the judge. Another set of dates submitted also didn't meet the judge's schedule, he said.

"Today, we got a date that works," Parks said Thursday. Torrez, 38, will be sentenced on one count each of first-degree assault, kidnapping and armed criminal action.

Five counts of armed criminal action, two counts of felonious restraint, and one count each of first-degree assault and first-degree burglary were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

Under the plea agreement, Parks will not seek any more than 30-year sentences on any of the three counts, that the sentences will run concurrently and that the defense will be allowed to present mitigating evidence at the sentencing hearing.

Torrez was charged with kidnapping 7-day-old Abby Woods Sept. 15, 2006, from her home and slashing Stephenie Ochsenbine's throat with a knife.

Police say that Torrez went to the mother's door and Ochsenbine let her inside.

At the May 9 hearing, Parks stated that Torrez then asked to use the bathroom. When she emerged, she brandished a pistol at Ochsenbine and told her she was taking the baby.

"Ochsenbine got between the defendant and baby Abby. The defendant grabbed Stephenie, throwing her on a mattress on the floor," Parks said.

Ochsenbine was tied up with her son Conner. Her hand injuries stem from her efforts to protect 1-year-old Conner after Torrez told her to shut him up, Parks told the court. Parks said Torrez slashed Ochsenbine twice across the throat and fled with the baby.

Abby was found after Torrez's sister-in-law, Dorothy Torrez, became suspicious when she noticed makeup on the baby's forehead. When Dorothy Torrez wiped off the makeup, she discovered the birthmark that baby Abby had that the police broadcast in their search for the baby.

The baby was returned, unharmed, to her family.

The pistol used in the attack and the shirt Torrez was wearing were later found in Torrez's home. Parks said blood matching Ochsenbine's DNA was found on both the gun and the shirt.

The abduction and subsequent return of the baby became a national and international news event.

Torrez has remained in custody in the Franklin County Jail since her arrest in 2006.


©Washington Missouri 2010

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