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Woman sentenced in the murder of her mother

ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — It was an emotional day in a Rockdale County court, as a now 20-year-old woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of her mother.

She and her twin sister were accused of brutally murdering their mother in 2010. The children were 16-years-old at the time.

Tasmiyah Whitehead plead guilty to three charges Thursday and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. She will get time served for nearly four years that she's been in jail. Her grandmother was there and made an emotional plea to the court.

"My granddaughter Tasmiyah Whithead just got sentenced to 30 years in prison," said Lynda Whitehead. "It hurt me so bad because I know they should be in college now, you know, not sitting in jail somewhere."

At 16, Tasmiyah was accused of brutally murdering her own mother with her twin sister Jasmiyah. Nicki Whitehead was 34 at the time she was killed.

In court Thursday the district attorney described a dysfunctional family that included the twins, their mother and the twins' great grandmother.

District Attorney Richard Read told the judge at 13, the girls began to rebel against their mothers own partying lifestyle and the rules she imposed on the teens. Violence had erupted among the three in the past and three years of turmoil ended on Jan. 13, 2010.

"The forgiveness would have been much easier if they would have came forward and told the truth," Read said.

Lynda said that in all of the dysfunction, she didn't want the court to forget what had happened to her daughter.

"I wanted the judge also to not lose eyesight of this crime," Lynda said. "What my daughter must have experienced that morning January."

Jasmiyah will go to trial in March. She's not part of plea deal.