A 60-year-old Leavenworth woman was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for killing her mother.

County Attorney Todd Thompson said Victoria Smith was sentenced on Friday for the death of her mother Anna Higgins just over a year ago.

District Judge Gunnar Sundby denied a defense motion to withdraw Smith’s guilty plea in the case.

Smith admitted she was surprised to be awakened by her mother and hit Higgins with a flashlight. She then took her to another room and then struck her several more times with a three-pound mallet. Higgins was found dead in the home on 6th Ave. in Leavenworth on July 3, 2016.

On Friday, Judge Sundby sentenced Smith to 155 months, or almost 13 years. Smith had asked for a departure in her sentence and said that she was started by what she thought was an intruder and hit her mother with a flash light. When she realized it was her mother she “snapped.” That she only “tapped” her mother with the hammer to scare her, and did not believe the death was due to the hammer.

At sentencing, the family told the court of the years of issues they had with Victoria Smith and the horrific way Anna Higgins was murdered. Her family said that they could not even have a viewing at the funeral for Ms. Higgins.