Arizona Woman Sentenced to 21 Years for Hammer Death of Cousin
Brianna Zerth, 33, pleaded guilty to domestic violence manslaughter after beating her cousin Peter McKenna Jr. to death. She was sentenced Friday to the maximum 21 years.
Arizona Woman Sentenced to 21 Years for Hammer Death of Cousin
An Arizona woman who struck her cousin to death with a claw hammer — and then attempted to vacuum up his blood before dialling emergency services — has been sentenced to 21 years in prison, according to court records.
Brianna Zerth, 33, pleaded guilty in April to one count of domestic violence manslaughter for the May 4, 2022 killing of Peter McKenna Jr., 33. A judge handed down the sentence Friday. As Law & Crime has reported, the sentence represents the statutory maximum for the charge.
Officers with the Peoria Police Department responded just after noon on May 5, 2022, to a report of a dead man at a residence near 112th Avenue and West Diana Avenue. First responders located McKenna, who showed signs of multiple blunt-force trauma injuries, and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators determined that Zerth and McKenna were relatives, and that McKenna lived at the home where he was found. Zerth told police the two had been up late the night before drinking alcohol when an argument broke out. She said the details of what happened were "blurry" and that she woke up to find McKenna dead on the floor in a pool of blood.
According to local news collective AZ Family, Zerth told officers she covered McKenna's body with a jacket and then attempted to clean the scene, including by trying to vacuum up the blood. She also reportedly picked up shards of broken glass out of concern that her daughter might step on them. Only after those attempts to tidy the scene did she contact police, telling them McKenna was "stiff and cold to the touch."
Tucson CBS affiliate KOLD later reported that Zerth claimed McKenna had been strangling her during the confrontation and had caused her "significant trauma" — an account that a medical examination partially corroborated.
Court records show that Zerth was initially arrested and charged following the incident but was subsequently released after prosecutors declined to formally file charges, citing insufficient evidence at the time. She was later indicted on one count each of second-degree intentional murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, and tampering with, destroying, or altering physical evidence.
Under the terms of her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the charges of assault with a deadly weapon and evidence tampering, leaving only the manslaughter count. Zerth received credit for 1,056 days already served — just under three years — against her 21-year term.
Source: Law & Crime