BRICK — A New Jersey woman who beat her 94-year-old grandmother, left her on the floor for two days and then beat her again in what she called "round two" was sentenced Friday to six years in prison.

Katherine Schubert pleaded guilty to manslaughter in April for the May 2014 death of Mary Driscoll. She had been charged with murder, but prosecutors said she was offered the plea deal given potential defense arguments and after hearing from the victim's family.

Schubert had been released from a drug rehabilitation program on the day of the attack and was on probation for endangering the welfare of a child by driving drunk with a minor in her car.

The 39-year-old woman said that after drinking, she attacked her grandmother and left her on the floor of their home in Brick without food or water. Two days later, she said, she tried to put Driscoll into pajamas and into bed but then had to "go in for round two and beat her into submission."

Driscoll died six days later at a hospital.

Schubert, who said previously that she had taken sleeping pills and doesn't remember what happened, apologized before she was sentenced Friday.

Katherine Schubert
Katherine Schubert's mug shot. (Ocean County Jail)
loading...

"My grandmother was left in my care, and this is my fault," Schubert said. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of her and miss her."

Schubert told police that before the attack a friend she had met in drug rehab came to pick her up, but wouldn't let her in the car because she was drunk. That led to an argument with Driscoll and the first attack.

"She put her grandmother at great risk by making the decision to ingest copious amounts of alcohol," said Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Armstrong. "Instead of celebrating her sobriety in a more socially acceptable way, she decided to ingest alcohol. She decided to ingest sleeping pills."

Defense attorney Alton Kenney said that after Schubert was arrested in her grandmother's death, she had to be hospitalized because she was still intoxicated, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Al Della Fave, a spokesman for Ocean County prosecutors, told The Associated Press that "the state felt that the plea to manslaughter was in the best interest of the family given the ... potential defenses and the input from the victim's family, all of whom strongly wanted leniency for Schubert."

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM