HOUSTON – A Houston woman has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder last week in the stabbing death of her 4-year-old daughter, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Tuesday.
“It is almost incomprehensible that a mother would brutally murder her own baby,” Ogg said. “This case was handled by experts in our mental health division to make sure justice was done, and we hope this result brings some closure to the father, siblings and other family members of little Fredricka Allen.”
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Laquita Lewis, 39, pleaded guilty to murder on the eve of trial Friday in exchange for a sentence of 40 years in prison. She will have to serve at least half of that time before she is eligible for parole. She is also barred from appealing the conviction or sentence.
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Lewis, a mother of four, fatally stabbed her daughter inside a northwest Harris County apartment in the 5600 block of Timber Creek on June 18, 2017. She then called the child’s father to tell him that the girl was now in heaven. He called law enforcement and went to the home to find the girl in a pool of her own blood. Lewis also had three sons with a different man from a prior relationship. Those children were not at home during the attack.
Assistant District Attorney Jeff Matovich, a chief in the Mental Health Division who handled the case, thanked the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for its investigation and said the plea agreement means that Lewis’ sons and the rest of her family will not have to testify in the case.
“It was important to Fredricka’s father that Laquita Lewis take responsibility for what she did,” Matovich said. “No one can bring back his daughter, but he was satisfied with this resolution, especially the fact that Lewis cannot appeal.”