Paris McConville, 35, pleaded guilty in the death of her friend Ryan Thompson in Portland on Thursday. (Multnomah County Sheriff)
A homeless transgender woman, who strangled to death a man with whom she had a decade-long friendship after being invited to live in his Portland, Ore., apartment, was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison.
Paris McConville, 35, pleaded guilty to one count each of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault in the August 2017 death of Ryan Thompson, 35, FOX12 Oregon reported.
“In the end, he lost his life because he trusted the wrong person," Thompson’s sister, Cecily Thompson-Thiel, said in court.
McConville walked into a local police station 17 hours after killing her friend and confessed, the Oregonian reported. Police discovered she had moved his body to a bathtub and bound his hands with packing tape.
Thompson’s official cause of death was ruled as strangulation, but he also had a stab wound to an arm and blunt force trauma to the back of his head, police said.
Investigators said the friends had an argument that turned physical, though a clear motive was never discovered, FOX12 reported.
McConville had been homeless and living off food stamps preceding the invitation to stay at Thompson’s apartment, the Oregonian reported. Authorities believe McConville suffers from mental illness.
“In the end, he lost his life because he trusted the wrong person."
McConville, who apologized in court, was originally charged with murder and faced life in prison, but the charge was downgraded because she surrendered and showed remorse, her defense attorney, Jason Steen, told the paper.
“She [went to police] on her own, before she had an attorney. ... I find Paris to be a bit mysterious, but one thing that seemed very clear to me is that right from the start, she was sorry,” he said.
Thompson’s family addressed the court Thursday. They described their loved one as “kind, sensitive, and exceedingly intelligent” with a “caring heart,” FOX12 reported.
"He was a good big brother,” said Thompson-Thiel. “He and I will never have the chance to grow old together."
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