HOLLIDAYSBURG – An Altoona woman will spend 18-40 years in state prison for the shooting death of her 71-year-old mother.

Tracy A. Stephenson of Altoona was sentenced Monday after an intense exchange between the prosecution and defense attorneys over what part Stephenson’s mental health issues played in the shooting death of her mother.

Blair County District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio called the Nov. 19, 2014, killing of Barbara Elias, who lived with Stephenson and her paramour on the 3700 block of Fifth Avenue, “cold-blooded murder,” while Public Defender Russell Montgomery described the death as a “horrible tragedy.”

Stephenson, 49, entered a guilty plea earlier this year to third-degree murder.

The plea, according to Consiglio, helped reduce what he considered a premeditated, planned killing from first-degree to third-degree murder.

He said throughout his lengthy presentation to Blair County Judge Wade A. Kagarise that the reduction in the grading of the homicide took into consideration Stephenson’s “diminished capacity.”

Montgomery, on the other hand, asked the judge to sentence Stephenson based on the reality of her mental health condition, which included delusionary behavior and psychosis.

The judge said he understood the arguments from both sides.

Third-degree murder, Kagarise said, includes by definition malice or “extreme indifference to human life.”

Stephenson, under the belief her mother was out to poison her, shot Elias in the back of the head on the morning of Nov. 19, 2014.

The bullet did not cause a fatal injury. It circled her skull and exited though her jaw.

Elias was able to get up and go to the bathroom to obtain tissue to stem the bleeding.

The prosecution contended that after the first shot, Elias would have been able to survive.

Stephenson either left the house and went shopping or stood and watched her mother tend her wound.

Prosecutors don’t know what occurred immediately after the first shot, but Stephenson took a .32-caliber handgun and shot her mother a second time through the top of the head. The second shot was fatal.

Kagarise said, “It can’t be any more cruel.”

It is not easy to pinpoint the precise part Stephenson’s mental illness played in the killing, the judge said.

He said with treatment in prison, Stephenson’s psychosis may recede, but there are no guarantees of that.

The judge received a report Monday from Blair County Prison Warden Michael M. Johnston stating that Stephenson, since placed in the prison, has been written up 15 times for various assaults, resisting officers, possessing contraband and creating disturbances.

While the warden agreed with the defense that Stephenson has adjusted fairly well to prison in view of the fact she is subject to much harassment from other inmates, Kagarise concluded what happens when Stephenson is released from prison weighed heavily in favor of a longer time behind bars.

The impact on the rest of Stephenson’s family was another factor favoring a stiffer sentence, Kagarise said.

Elias’ brother-in-law, Tom Johnston of New York, in a March 19 hearing, said what happened to Elias was “horrific” and told Kagarise by telephone, “Someone has to speak for this woman. She was a gentle soul. It all lies with you guys, the judge.”

Citing the defense, Kagarise said Stephenson, who came to Altoona to live with her paramour and with whom operated a deli, had no criminal history and was a contributing member of society.

Not only was she a hard worker, but many people submitted letters on her behalf.

Kagarise said he had to balance the request for a “strong sentence” from Consiglio and Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky with the plea for mitigation by Montgomery and Assistant Public Defender Julia Burke.

The judge sentenced Stephenson to 18-40 years. The maximum for third-degree murder is 20-40 years.

The defense was asking for five years behind bars with an emphasis on treatment.

“Outrageous,” Consiglio replied when hearing the defense request.

“I’ve been doing this for 45 years. Now, the victim becomes the defendant, the defendant becomes the victim,” he said.

People are using mental health issues as a way to justify what they do, he stated.

Despite the contention by Stephenson that her mother was trying to poison her, there were “no threats, no fights, no nothing” from the mother toward the daughter the day of the killing.

Consiglio said Stephenson at one point tried to have her mother committed to the UPMC mental health center, but when that was rejected, she plotted for three weeks to kill her.

He was critical of Stephenson’s lack of remorse and noted that, a psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Silverman, for Stephenson, and Wayne R. D’Agaro, a psychologist for the prosecution, agreed that had somebody else been in the room that day, Stephenson would not have killed her mother.

The third-degree plea, said Montgomery, was a compromise. The prosecution considered the case first-degree murder, the defense one of manslaughter.

Montgomery repeated many times that Stephenson, during October and November 2014, was not rational.

Records showed Stephenson suffered from paranoia, fear that people were pursing her, attempting to break into her home and bugging her smoke detectors.

Stephenson spent time in the UPMC Crisis Center two weeks before the killing and was diagnosed with psychosis.

Yet after three days, she was discharged without receiving any psychotropic medication.

Her mental health issues led to the irrational act of killing her mother, the defense argued.

“She did a horrible thing, but it was because of mental health,” argued Montgomery.

He asked Kagarise to give Stephenson a chance to rebuild her life.

Kagarise pointed out in his sentencing order that Stephenson will be younger than her mother was at her death when she becomes eligible for parole.

Burke said after the two-hour hearing that she has gotten close to Stephenson during her representation and concluded, “She’s really a sweetheart.”

As for the long sentence, she said, “It really breaks my heart.”

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.