ST. PETERS, Mo. — A St. Peters mother on Monday pleaded guilty to killing her daughter in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
Donna Scuderi, 71, admitted to helping Laura Scuderi, her daughter, die by suicide in May 2021.
Scuderi initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in her daughter's death; she pleaded guilty to a lesser count of voluntary manslaughter ahead of a jury trial scheduled for Tuesday.
According to court documents, Scuderi told a detective that the pair made a pact to take their own lives. Scuderi's daughter tried to kill herself by placing an oven bag over her head and Scuderi helped pull the bag tight around her neck, resulting in her death.
Editor's note: The video above is from May 18, 2021.
A statement from a St. Peters police detective detailed what Donna's husband said he found when he got home from work — and what Scuderi told investigators from a hospital bed.
Scuderi’s husband said he found their daughter’s body in an upstairs bedroom of their home. There were means of strangulation, suffocation and multiple pill bottles found in the room with her, police said. Donna was in a nearby bathroom alive, but suffering from a severe cut to her neck and blood loss.
Scuderi was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. She was unconscious for more than 24 hours, police said. When she woke up, she was capable of communicating with medical staff and a detective with St. Peters police using "heads nods and verbal confirmation."
Scuderi told the detective she and her daughter planned to take their own lives after researching suicide. She helped her daughter go through with their plan, then harmed herself and fell unconscious, documents said. An autopsy of the daughter revealed ligature marks around her neck.
Hospital nurses told police Scuderi asked about her daughter, and what was going to happen. She also said she was sorry.
Laura Scuderi was 39 years old.
Police said they believed Donna Scuderi intentionally overdosed Laura Scuderi and then strangled her. In a second interview with an investigator, Donna explained that Laura was unconscious when she strangled her.
Scuderi was held in the custody of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department Monday and was transferred to the St. Charles County Department of Corrections.