Two years after the death of her 25-year-old daughter, a mother accepted the plea deal from the Rapides Parish District Attorney’s Office in regards to her daughter’s death.
Scheduled to go to trial this week, Karen Johnson Harrison, 50 (dob: 05/04/1971) pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. She was sentenced Monday by Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Chris Hazel to 40 years at hard labor for manslaughter, which is the maximum sentence, and 10 years at hard labor for conspiracy. The sentences are to run consecutively, and Harrison did get credit for time served.
Harrison and a couple living at the residence, Marilyn Sue Maricle, 55 (dob: 10/16/1966) and her husband, Glen Elva Maricle, 57 (dob: 11/29/1962), were initially charged with second-degree murder, cruelty to the inform and cruelty to juveniles. The Maricles are scheduled to go to trial on May 16, 2022.
Harrison’s daughter, Cyra Shantelle Marie Harrison, who was 25 at the time and diagnosed with cerebral palsy, died on November 23, 2018, at a residence in the 200 block of Leon Odom Road, Elizabeth, which is located in the Plainview area of Rapides Parish. Cyra Harrison’s death was first reported as natural causes, but deputies with the Rapides Sheriff’s Department, suspected foul play after seeing the condition of her body and describing her living conditions as “deplorable.” An investigation occurred, and five days later, detectives charged Harrison and the Maricle couple.
The investigation included a coroner’s report which estimated the victim’s weight between 65 and 70 pounds at the time of her death. The report indicated the victim was found on a mattress on a floor that was covered with rotting food, dog food and bodily fluids. It also stated the home was infested with roaches, animal feces and flies. Cyra’s cause of death was failure to thrive and dehydration due to cerebral palsy and neglect, according to the pathologist’s report. It listed her manner of death as a homicide.
This week, Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Brian Cespiva, who prosecuted the case, said, “Karen Harrison will be over 100 years old at the conclusion of this sentence. We’ve effectively secured a life sentence without the inherent risks of a trial.
All three have been housed in the Rapides Parish Detention Center since November 2018. Harrison previously rejected the plea offer of a life sentence choosing to go before a jury. Last week, her attorney, James Word II, was unsuccessful in continuing the court case last week.
