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Hazel Abel: Teens Sentenced In Abduction Of Elderly Women With The Intent To Kill

By Jennifer Deutschmann
Published on: 08:21 PST, May 16, 2016

Hazel Abel, 87, who was kidnapped by her great-grandson and his friend, told the pair to behave while they are in prison. Last week, Abel’s great-grandson Dylan Martin, 17, was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison and his friend, Billy Underwood, 16, was sentenced to 10.5 years. Although the boys were tried as adults, a third defendant, 14-year-old Katelyn Kenfield, was ordered to serve 2.5 years in a juvenile facility. The teens are accused of kidnapping the elderly woman and stuffing her into the trunk of her car, with plans to kill her at a later date.

Fox News reports the teenagers grabbed the elderly woman from the front steps of her home. They then threw dirt in her face before forcing her and her pet chihuahua Tessa into the trunk of her car.

To prevent her escape, Hazel’s hands were tied with a ribbon, and her apron was used to cover her head. She was also gagged so she could not yell for help.

Abel was driven 200 miles from Kennewick,Washington to Oregon. After riding in the trunk for nearly six hours, the elderly woman managed to escape when her abductors stopped at Wal-Mart to buy supplies.

After escaping the trunk, Hazel Abel ran to a convenience store, where she urged the employees to call the police. When they realized their captor was gone, the teenagers immediately fled the scene.

Hazel said she had no idea who her abductors were. Thankfully, authorities were able to identify the suspects using surveillance footage from the Wal-Mart parking lot. They eventually found the teens hiding in a parking garage across the street.

Fourteen-year-old Katelyn Kenfield, who was Billy Underwood’s girlfriend, said she and the two boys planned to run away to Portland. She also confirmed Martin was the one who suggested stealing his great-grandmother’s car. Katelyn said she witnessed the woman’s kidnapping and was tasked with occasionally checking the trunk to see if the elderly woman was still breathing.

Hazel Abel said she was stunned to learn her great-grandson was behind the abduction and that he and his friends planned to kill her. She said she is unsure if she will ever completely forgive her grandson.

“I don’t know how he could do that to me … this is family. I had told Dylan that I love him and things but I guess that doesn’t matter,” she said. Abel said she was praying while she was trapped inside the trunk of the car because she was sure they planned to kill her.

She continued “I just cannot understand why, and the only reason I can give for it is that they wanted money and they wanted my car.” Authorities confirmed the boys stole a butcher knife from the elderly woman’s kitchen and confessed they considered setting fire to the vehicle with her body inside.

Prosecutors were pushing for a 14-year prison sentence for each boy. However, Martin and Underwood pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, kidnapping, and theft of a vehicle in exchange for reduced sentences.

In a statement, which was read aloud in the courtroom, Hazel Abel said “I can’t begin to tell you boys how sorry I am for what you have been through these past few months, it could have ended so much worse than it did if you’d carried out the plans you had for me. I’ve asked why so many times and yet haven’t been given an acceptable answer … behave yourself in prison and maybe someday, you will have a good life.”

Martin, who had stolen money from his great-grandmother a week earlier, said she was an easy mark — who only left her residence either to go to the store or nail salon. Daily Mail reports Hazel Abel’s neighbors suspected something was wrong when her garage door was found open and car missing.

[Image via Dundanim/Shutterstock]

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