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The upcoming episode of Snapped on Oxygen will explore the brutal murder of Brenda Powell, a 50-year-old child life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital. The case is particularly harrowing because Brenda's killer was her own daughter, Sydney Powell. At just 19 years old, Sydney committed the crime after Brenda discovered that she had been expelled from college.
This case remains one of the most shocking cases in Akron, Ohio's history. Snapped Season 34 episode 4 will cover this story, airing on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 6:00 PM EST. The synopsis for the episode reads:
"A healthcare worker is attacked in her home; police must follow clues to discover the truth."
Ahead of its premiere, let us dive into the case of Brenda Powell's brutal murder.
Who is Brenda Powell, and what happened to her?
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Brenda Powell was a 50-year-old child life specialist at Akron Children's Hospital and lived in Akron, Ohio. At the time of her murder, she had worked for Akron Children's Hospital for nearly 30 years and was a renowned figure in the community.
Brenda Powell had a daughter, Sydney Powell, who was a 19-year-old student at the University of Mount Union when the tragic incident took place.
According to reports, Sydney Powell had been suspended from college due to poor grades. On the day of the incident, Brenda was at home when the university called to discuss her suspension. In a fit of panic, Sydney attacked her mother in between the phone call on March 3, 2020.
With school officials still allegedly on the line, Sydney hit her mother with an iron skillet. She then stabbed Brenda Powell nearly 30 times in the neck. She proceeded to pick up the phone and claimed to be Brenda, in a bid to remove the doubts from the school authorities who had heard the violence on call.
As reported by NBC News, Associate Dean of the college, Michelle Gaffney, who was still on the line, recalled:
"The phone cut off at some point after, I would say, somewhere in the neighborhood of six or seven of those thudding, those sort of thud sounds, and the screaming had continued."
Gaffney even recalled how Sydney tried to pose as her mother to remove any doubts from her:
"The voice on the other ends said, 'Yes, this is Brenda. Yes, this is Brenda... It was not Brenda. I was sure it was Sydney. Both Dean [of Students John] Frazier and I looked at each other and sort of shook our heads at each other and said that's not Brenda. He then said, 'Sydney, I think this is you, this is not Brenda.' The phone went dead."
After this, Sydney Powell was arrested and taken to the police station immediately. She did not explain her actions, and nearly three years later, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years of jail time.
Her father appealed to not hold the charges against her, and the defense even argued dissociation and insanity, but her judgment has not been overturned yet.
The upcoming episode of Snapped on Oxygen will cover this case in further detail. Stay tuned.
