Woman sentenced to 30 years for elderly Fort Worth man's murder

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FORT WORTH, Texas - The woman who beat and robbed an elderly man after he opened his door expecting a Meals on Wheels delivery will spend the next 30 years in prison.

Kristin Minor was originally charged with capital murder. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder on Tuesday and was sentenced Friday.

Police said she knocked on 89-year-old Henry Sawyer’s door around lunchtime in August of 2015. He opened it because he was expecting a Meals on Wheels delivery.

Instead, Minor barreled her way in, hit Sawyer on the chest and caused him to slam his head on the floor. She stole money and food, ripped the phone cord from the wall and then ran off.

Minutes later the real Meals on Wheels delivery driver arrived and found Sawyer bleeding and disoriented. He died five days after the attack.

Pattie Griffin was there in a Tarrant County courtroom when the woman who killed her father was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

"It is closure for my family and myself. Yeah, we've gone through this for three years,” she said. “He was a cheery old guy. He smiled all the time. They called him Mr. Smiley. But he was a happy guy. He liked to play jokes on his family and his grandkids."

Although Minor later admitting to knowing Sawyer, she initially denied it and abruptly ended a jailhouse interview with FOX 4 when asked about it.

"We did want her to accept responsibility in the beginning,” Griffin said. “She didn't, but now she has and it's helped for the closure."

Griffin chose not to give a victim impact statement at the sentencing. She says she and her family are ready to put this behind them.

"I'm happy,” she said. “I'm satisfied that we got justice."

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in this case.