Anacortes-area woman sentenced to 18 years for killing of step-grandfather

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. -- Ami Morin, 25, of the Anacortes area, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday in the beating death of her step-grandfather and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.

Morin’s boyfriend, Ashlee Smith, 33, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree murder in the death of Dean Jackson, whose body was found wrapped in a tarp, along with his dead cat, north of Sedro-Woolley in February 2013, the Herald said.  Smith said he hit Jackson four or five times with a wooden stick.

Morin and Smith had been living with Jackson in his home in the Anacortes area when he was slain. Prosecutors said Jackson's plan to evict the couple led to his slaying.