KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A judge sentenced a man to life in prison Tuesday for killing a 96-year-old woman in her Caldwell County, Missouri, home.
Harold Edwards Jr., 29, of Kansas City, Missouri, killed Lorene Fickess in May 2022 at her home near Polo, Missouri.
Court documents revealed Edwards hit Fickess at least 24 times in her skull with a heavy, sharp-bladed object with a beveled edge.
Edwards also used the object to hit her in the chest before he put her body in a bathtub.
"We are glad this matter has now been resolved, and I hope this bring the family some peace," Caldwell County Prosecuting Attorney Brady Kopek said in a statement."
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of child pornography.
Investigators found the pornography on Edwards' cell phone.
As part of a plea agreement, the state dropped 13 other charges — including four more child-pornography charges, armed criminal action, three counts of second-degree arson, two counts of second-degree burglary, first-degree burglary and abandonment of a corpse.
"We are happy to see that Mr. Edwards Jr. will be behind bars," Caldwell County Sheriff Mitchell K. Allen said in a statement. "We are hoping this brings some closure to the family members of Mrs. Lorene Fickess. Also, I would like to say thank you to all of the the agencies involved in this case for a job well done."
In addition to the life sentence, Edwards received a seven-year sentence for each child-pornography charge with all sentences set to run consecutively.
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