FORT MITCHELL, Ky. -- The Independence woman convicted of murdering her mother had hurt her mother in the past, but the mother never pressed charges, according to the killer's sisters.
Lara Conley was sentenced to 27 years in prison Thursday for killing her mother, Carlene. Police said Carlene Conley was found dead from more than 70 stab wounds in their home March 15, 2015.
Ann Gorman, one of Conley's sisters, said Conley lived with their mother.
"My sister was erratic, but my mother was never a violent person," Gorman said. "She would never lay a hand on my sister, so some of the things that they were saying were a little hurtful, and we want our mom to be remembered as the great, loving woman that she was."
Prosecutors said Conley was the one who stabbed her mother dozens of times. Conley had initially reported the incident as a home invasion, but later changed her story to claim she had acted in self-defense.
Gorman said the guilty verdict was a relief, confirming what she and their other sister, Ginger Goetz, believed all along.
"She's an animal," Gorman said. "Who kills their mother? What kind of a person kills their mother?"
The sisters said they didn't believe Conley's story and didn't believe she showed any remorse.
"I don't think she batted an eye," Ginger Goetz, her sister said. "There certainly wasn't ever any apologetic looks in any direction. She avoided looking at us at all costs. I don't know if that is guilt or it it's just self preservation."
Goetz said Conley had abused their mother in the past, sending her to the hospital numerous times. But she never pressed charges.
"My mother didn't want to feel like she was abandoning her child and, in the end, that is what killed her," Goetz said.
Their family will never be the same, the sisters said.
"You don't realize how much your mother means to you until she is gone," Gorman said. "...She was always there. She taught me how to be a woman and, through all of this, I have become a stronger woman thanks to her."
