'End the nightmare': Lawyer says Akron woman wasn't sane when she fatally stabbed mom

When Akron police officers arrived at the Powell family’s home in March 2020, they weren’t sure what had happened.

Brenda Powell was lying on the floor of her bedroom, covered with blood, with life-threatening injuries.

Sydney Powell, her teenage daughter, was also bloody and hysterical. She told officers someone had broken into their home and her mother urged her to get out.

Summit County prosecutors, though, said during their opening statements Thursday in Sydney’s murder trial that Sydney killed her mother by stabbing her repeatedly with a steak knife and hitting her with a cast-iron frying pan. They say Sydney then broke a window to make it look like there was a break-in.

Prosecutors pointed to Sydney’s repeated lies before and after her mother’s slaying and attempt to cover up what she had done as evidence that she was sane when she killed her mother.

“Sydney Powell did take her mother’s life and she knew in doing so her actions were wrong,” said Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Joe McAleese.

Don Malarcik, Sydney’s attorney, however, said three psychologists found that Sydney suffered from schizophrenia and had a psychotic break on the day she killed her mother. He said she was having delusions and hearing voices and lost control.

Malarcik urged jurors to find Sydney not guilty by reason of insanity.

“The science is overwhelming — and it supports insanity,” Malarcik said.

Sydney’s trial in Summit County Common Pleas Judge Kelly McLaughlin’s courtroom began with jury selection Wednesday and opening statements and the start of testimony Thursday. Sydney was emotional during the start of the trial, often crying, wiping away tears and bouncing her feet.

Jurors have choice of three verdicts

Sydney, 23, is charged with two counts of murder — one that means purposely causing a death and the other that involves causing a death as the result of a felonious assault, as well as felonious assault and tampering with evidence.

Her trial, which is being broadcast on Court TV, will be tried in two parts. The first will feature prosecutors providing evidence on the slaying and the second will focus on Powell’s insanity defense. Three psychologists found Powell to be not guilty by reason of insanity, while a fourth expert determined that she was sane when she killed her mother.

Jurors will choose among three verdicts: guilty, not guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.

Steven “Steve” Powell, Sydney’s father and Brenda’s husband, and Betsy Brown, Sydney’s maternal grandmother, didn’t want a trial to happen and begged prosecutors to reach a resolution that would prevent one. They said they were concerned about the impact a trial could have on Sydney Powell’s mental state, which they say has improved since she has been under the care of doctors and on medication.

More: 'This goes against anything Brenda would want': Dad begs not to try daughter for mom's death

However, prosecutors were unwilling to agree to a plea deal or accept a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.

In the event Powell can’t handle sitting through the trial, a special viewing room has been set up for her. The trial is expected to last through Sept. 18.

Series of lies led up to and followed slaying, prosecutors say

McAleese acknowledged during his opening statement that Powell was under a great deal of strain in the weeks leading to her mother’s slaying.

Powell, who had been an honors student at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, was suspended from the University of Mount Union in December 2019 because of her poor grades. She didn’t tell her roommates or parents about this, instead pretending that she was still enrolled and continuing to stay on campus.

University officials told Sydney in late February that she would need to leave campus. She spent a week staying in hotels before returning to her Akron home on March 3.

Steven Powell, who had noticed that Sydney’s tuition hadn’t been withdrawn, confronted Sydney and she told him she was struggling and that Mount Union might not be the right place for her. Steven called Brenda, who came home to talk to Sydney, while he went to work.

McAleese said Brenda called Mount Union officials to ask what was happening and, while she was on the phone call with them, they heard a thud, screaming and then more thuds. The call ended and the college officials tried to call back but got no answer.

McAleese said they continued calling and someone answered Brenda’s phone and said, “This is Brenda.” One of the Mount Union officials recognized Sydney’s voice and said he knew it was her. The call was ended and the Mount Union officials called Akron police, who dispatched officers.

McAleese said Sydney lied in that call to Mount Union officials and then to police when they arrived when she claimed there had been a break in.

“The truth caught up to these lies,” he said. “It became overwhelming. She was stressed. Her tuition was canceled. Her enrollment was canceled. In that moment, she struck her mother with a frying pan over and over. She stabbed her over and over — hoping that was finally enough. She had awareness to try to hide what she did.”

Attorney says, ‘Why?’ is the trial’s main question

Malarcik, though, said the main question in this trial is, “Why?”

Malarcik said the Powells were like an “All-American” family, with two kids, both parents working, and the family taking vacations together to Disney World and the beach. He said many people said Sydney and her mother were like best friends.

Malarcik said three experts spent hours evaluating and administering tests on Sydney and reached the same conclusion — she had schizophrenia, suffered a psychotic break and didn’t know what she was doing when she killed her mother.

Malarcik said there’s other evidence of Sydney’s deteriorating mental state. He said she was having audio and visual hallucinations, including seeing fire come out of her hands, and hearing voices that said things like, “You’re a failure.”

Malarcik said Sydney lied to her friends and family, acting like she was still enrolled in classes. He said she would put on her backpack and pretend to go to class when she would actually go to the student center and wait until her friends were done with their classes.

“This is a false reality,” he said. “She was creating a world where everything is OK.”

Malarcik said Sydney’s last memory before the slaying is her mother telling her everything would be OK and giving her a big hug. He said that’s when she had her break from reality.

“The next 25 minutes, everything she did was because of a severe mental disease,” Malarcik said. “How do we know? It screams of insanity. The brutality of it. The lack of a motive.”

Sydney didn’t flee, wash the blood off of her or hide her clothes, Malarcik said.

A police officer took Sydney outside to the driveway and she fell over, scratching her face and clawing the pavement with her fingernails. The first doctor who saw Sydney at Summa Akron City Hospital diagnosed her with schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, Malarcik said.

Sydney is now under the care of a doctor and counselor and on several medications, which were upped to help her get through the stress of the trial, Malarcik said.

“She would be a zombie if she took these drugs without a mental-health issue,” he said. “This isn’t pretend. We’re going to ask you to trust the science. Every professional who has seen Sydney Powell has had the same diagnosis – schizophrenia. Mental illness is a real thing.”

Malarcik said Sydney didn’t kill her mother because she was upset about being suspended from college.

“This family has suffered a nightmare of unimaginable consequences,” he said. “I ask you to end the nightmare and return verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sydney Powell claims insanity in trial for mother's slaying in Akron