A Bellflower man accused of killing a 72-year-old woman by punching her in the face two years ago has pleaded no contest to elder abuse, according to court records.
Lawrence Jackson, 20, also admitted Friday to the special allegation that he caused the death of 72-year-old Barbara Scott during the commission of the crime, according to court records.
Jackson is expected to be sentenced to 9 years in prison as part of his plea agreement. A remaining murder charge is also scheduled to be dismissed at his next court date on Sept. 29.
Police say Jackson attacked Scott in an alleyway near the 1000 block of Redondo Avenue around 9 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2021. She was there to feed stray cats as she often did, her sister Tracy Scott told the Post last year. That’s when she witnessed an argument between Jackson and a woman, police said.
Scott tried to intervene and get them to stop arguing, but Jackson, who was 19 at the time, walked over to Scott and punched her in the face, according to details from a coroner’s report. Jackson and the woman then fled the scene, police said.
First responders arrived a couple of minutes later and found an injured Scott. Paramedics provided immediate aid, but she refused to be transported to a local hospital, opting to return to her apartment instead, according to witness accounts contained in the coroner’s report.
Nearly seven hours later, a neighbor checked on Scott and found her unconscious, authorities said. Scott was hospitalized and underwent surgery to reduce swelling in her brain.
Following the surgery, Scott, who is a military veteran, was transferred to the Veteran’s Affairs hospital in Long Beach and later discharged to a nursing home where she died on Sept. 16, 2021.
An autopsy revealed that Scott died as a result of a subdural hematoma caused by blunt head trauma. Authorities ruled her death was a homicide after additional tests showed her death was related to the punch in the face.
Police launched a homicide investigation a few days later and eventually identified Jackson as a suspect. He was taken into custody on suspicion of murder during a traffic stop in Bellflower on July 6, 2022. He’s been jailed in lieu of $2 million since.