Woman Charged In Sandy Hook Threat A No-Show In Court
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami/AP) — A Florida woman who reportedly threatened the parent of a boy killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting because she thought it was a hoax skipped a hearing Wednesday morning in which she was expected to plead guilty and be sentenced to prison.
Lucy Richards, 57, was arrested late last year after she was accused of sending threats to Lenny Pozner, father of 6-year-old Noah Pozner who died in the shooting. She entered a plea of not guilty.
Early this month, she accepted a plea deal from prosecutors.
Richards was a no-show for her change-of-plea plea hearing in Fort Lauderdale federal court. Her attorney said she called and said she wasn't coming, she didn't explain why.
"It was her choice," he said.
There's now a warrant for her arrest. When she's picked up by federal marshals, she'll be held without bond.
Prosecutors were recommending house arrest as part of her plea deal, but her no-show will probably change all of that.
Richards was arrested December 7th in Tampa on four felony counts of transmitting threats to Pozner.
The four threats, according to authorities, and included messages that said, "you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon," and "LOOK BEHIND YOU IT IS DEATH."
Another threat said, "there's nothing you can do about it," according to court documents.
Others linked to the Sandy Hook massacre have reported harassment by conspiracy theorists who argue it was staged to erode support for Second Amendment gun rights.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)