Woman sentenced to life in prison for killing mother

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A woman cried after a judge sentenced her to life without parole for the murder of her mother.

The judge called the case of Kajul Harvey the most brutal murder case he's ever seen.

"It's a brutal death, compounded by the fact it was the defendant's mother," Clayton County Superior Court Judge Matthew Simmons said from the bench.

Harvey became emotional as Simmons described how she and her boyfriend severely beat her mother, Alena Marble, in 2011.
Prosecutors say they then placed Marble in a trunk on a hot June day where she died.

"One of the most brutal murder cases that this court has ever seen," Judge Simmons said.

It's why the judge sentenced Harvey to life without parole.

Clayton County Executive Assistant District Attorney Katie Powers told the court that after Harvey and Latoris Grovner beat her mother in her apartment, Harvey left her child and her mentally challenged sister home alone in that apartment. 

That's so she and Grovner could go to the bank to use her mother's stolen debit card, Powers said.

"Not only is no regard for the life of her own mother, but no regard for lives of two people who could not assist themselves," Powers stated.

Grovner was previously convicted and received a 30-year sentence. Harvey's attorney argued he inflicted the punishment and Harvey shouldn't get more time than him.

"I'm asking the court to go ahead and sentence to life with the possibility of parole," Matthews said.

The judge, recalling how Marble was beaten with a vodka bottle and a frying pan, disagreed. "If this is not a case for life without parole I'm not sure what is," he said.

Testimony indicated Harvey and Grovner wanted Marble dead because she didn't approve of their relationship.

Harvey's attorney is appealing the sentence.

WSBTV