Teacher receives 11 years in prison for hammer slaying of mother

<p>A former Marietta high school teacher has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for the death of her 87-year-old mother.</p><p>Elizabeth McDonald, 51, of Woodstock, Ga., pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Wednesday before Cherokee County Superior Court Judge Frank Mills, who also sentenced her to nine years of probation. She told the judge she was sorry for her actions.</p><p>McDonald had been accused of killing her mother, Laura Townsend of New Canaan, Conn., by hitting her on the head with a hammer on Oct. 8. Townsend, 87, was in a coma until she died Nov. 15.</p><p>The former Lassiter High School English teacher said the killing was the result of a lifetime of abuse inflicted on her by her mother.</p><p>On Oct. 8, McDonald called 911 to report her mother was lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of a flight of stairs in her home. She told paramedics she hit her mother with a hammer, according to police reports.</p><p>McDonald had been placed on paid administrative leave from her school after her arrest and resigned later, effective Dec. 1.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x286581c)</p>