Columbia woman pleads guilty to first-degree murder
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – A 26-year-old Missouri woman who intentionally drove her vehicle into the Kansas River in Kansas has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Scharron Dingledine, of Columbia, Missouri, entered the plea Monday. As part of the plea, she won’t be eligible for parole for 25 years.
Prosecutors say Dingledine drove a car into the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence in August in an effort to kill herself and her children.
Rescuers pulled Dingledine and her 1-year-old son, Elijah Lake, from the water but were not able to save her 5-year-old daughter, Amiyah Bradley. Her body was recovered from the river the next day.
Elijah was critically injured.
