Leanna Norris Gets 37-Year Prison Term For Smothering Her Daughter

Leanna Norris, who drugged her toddler daughter with allergy medicine and then smothered her, was just sentenced to 37 years in prison for the murder. The 23-year-old Maine woman killed her daughter, Loh Grenada, by giving her Benedryl to put her to sleep and then covering her nose and mouth with duct tape and blanket, according to the prosecutors who put her behind bars.

Loh Grenada’s tiny body was found in the front seat of Leanna Norris’ car in Stetson, Maine on June 24, 2013. The Maine mother reportedly killed her little girl in order to stop her ex-boyfriend (the toddler’s father) from bringing his new girlfriends around the child.

“She did not want his new girlfriends mothering her child,” Maine Assistant Attorney General Deb Cashman stated during an interview with the Bangor Daily News about the child abuse and murder case.

“I want it to be known that I’m sorry to everyone that I have hurt,” Leanna Norris told the judge during the trial. “All I ever wanted was for her to be safe and us to be together forever.”

According to court records, Norris had been suffering from depression and other mental health issues and had attempted suicide before drugging and smothering her child.

Maine Superior Court Judge Ann Murray discounted and then ultimately rejected the insanity defense offered by Leanna Norris’ legal team. Martha Harris, Norris’ attorney, told the court that her client was depressed and suffered from anxiety and mood disorders last year.

Norris confessed to driving Loh Melody Grenda to Durham Bridge Road in Newport and making her consume “three times” the prescribed dose of an antihistamine. The Maine mom also told police investigators that she chose to smother her with a blanket so that she would not have to watch her little girl die.

After the murder of the child, Norris said she drove to a cemetery in Stetson and took the rest of the Benadryl and swallowed 200 Advil pills in a suicide attempt. She also told the law enforcement officers that she had recently broken off the relationship with her daughter’s father and claimed that the man, Michael Grenada, had threatened to seek full custody of their child.

Michael Grenada’s murder trial testimony reportedly revealed that the couple’s arguments led to police being dispatched on multiple occasions. Even though Grenada and Leanna Norris ended their relationship on June 16, 2013, they had agreed to continue to live and parent in the same home. The Maine mom’s “digital communications” with other men thwarted a romantic reunion, according to court testimony.

“That [digital communications] was the end of everything. She became very upset. She was crying and smashing her head against the wall,” Michael Grenada said in court.

Leanna’s father, Steven Norris, said he received a 2:30 a.m. phone call from his daughter on the day of the murder. During the conversation, she told him that she had killed her daughter. Steven Norris called the police while still on another line with his daughter. Leanna Norris ultimately drove to the home of her parents with Loh Grenada’s dead body still in the car.

Leanna Norris had asked to be tried without a jury. She told the judge that she woke up that day with the intent to murder her child and asked to receive the minimum sentence allowed in the murder and child abuse related case — 25 years. Michael Grenada called her leniency request a “joke” and asked for a 45-year prison term for what he deemed the “premeditated” murder of their daughter.

[Image via: Shutterstock.com]