The Sydney Powell case is an Ohio murder prosecution in which a nineteen-year-old University of Mount Union student killed her mother, Brenda Powell, inside the family’s Akron home on March 3, 2020, was convicted at trial after her insanity defense failed, and then had that conviction reversed on appeal in December 2024. The case is unusual for two reasons: Sydney’s father, Steven Powell, publicly opposed his own daughter’s prosecution, and the case is now before the Ohio Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on January 7, 2026.
What Happened on March 3, 2020
Sydney Powell had been suspended from the University of Mount Union after the first semester of her sophomore year, but she hid it from her family and kept living in her residence hall as if nothing had changed. Steven Powell discovered the suspension on March 3 when he could not access the university portal to pay tuition. He confronted Sydney, told her they could work it out, and left for work. Brenda, a veteran child life specialist at Akron Children’s Hospital, stayed home to handle the conversation.
University officials called Brenda later that day to discuss the suspension. During the call, they heard repeated thuds, a scream, and sounds of a struggle, and asked Akron police to conduct a welfare check. Officers found Brenda in a bedroom with fatal injuries. Prosecutors said Sydney had struck her mother in the back of the head with a cast-iron skillet and stabbed her nearly thirty times in the neck. She was fifty years old.
The Charges and the Insanity Defense
Sydney was charged with two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and one count of tampering with evidence. The tampering charge rested on the prosecution’s claim that she tried to stage the scene and initially told her father over the phone that there had been a break-in.
She entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Her defense team, led by attorney Don Malarcik, called three retained experts and her treating psychiatrist. Dr. James Reardon diagnosed schizophrenia and major depressive disorder and testified that Sydney had reported auditory hallucinations beginning at age eleven. Dr. Thomas Swale and Dr. Anthony Smartnick diagnosed schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. Dr. Robin Belcher-Timme testified that in the week before the killing, after Sydney was told to vacate her dorm, she became “increasingly paranoid and out of touch with reality.” All four concluded she was in a psychotic break during the attack and did not understand the wrongfulness of her actions.
The prosecution called clinical psychologist Dr. Sylvia O’Bradovich, who diagnosed borderline personality traits, an unspecified anxiety disorder, and malingering. She testified that Sydney’s symptom presentation was not credible and that she had shown no psychotic symptoms before the murder. Prosecutors pointed to Sydney’s conduct after the killing as evidence of awareness of wrongdoing: she impersonated her mother on the phone, fabricated an intruder story, and attempted to stage the scene. They also noted that in the days before the attack she had been active on her phone, texting friends, playing games, and attending a TV viewing party.
After O’Bradovich testified, the defense asked to recall its own experts for sur-rebuttal, arguing that she had introduced new critiques of their methodology. Trial Judge Kelly McLaughlin denied the request. The jury convicted Sydney on all counts.
Why Sydney Powell’s Father Opposed the Prosecution
From the outset, Steven Powell publicly urged prosecutors not to try his daughter. He and Brenda’s mother, Betsy Brown, asked for a resolution that would keep Sydney under psychiatric care rather than send her to prison, and they pointed to three expert evaluations concluding she was not guilty by reason of insanity.
“I don’t know why we’re doing this. This isn’t what anyone wants here,” Steven Powell told the Akron Beacon Journal before the trial. “This goes against anything Brenda would want.” He said Sydney’s mental health had improved “dramatically” with treatment and medication after the killing. “As parents, our job is to protect her,” he said. “The goal is to get her better — not to go backward to prove a point.”
Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh declined the family’s request and said the case was best decided by a jury. In a letter to the Summit County Court of Common Pleas before sentencing, Steven wrote that a life sentence was not what his wife would have wanted. “I can confirm with a 100% degree of certainty that this is not… justice for Brenda Powell,” he wrote, asking the court to send Sydney to a mental health facility instead of prison.
The Conviction and Sentence
In September 2023, Judge McLaughlin sentenced Sydney Powell to an aggregate term of fifteen years to life in prison, with parole eligibility after fifteen years. The felonious assault count merged with the murder counts for sentencing, and the three-year tampering sentence ran concurrently. Sydney declined to make a statement, citing her pending appeal.
Family attorney Jeff Laybourne told the court on behalf of Steven Powell that the family loved and supported Sydney “no matter what,” and urged the judge to ensure she received mental health treatment in prison, specifically mentioning the mental health facility at the Ohio Reformatory for Women.
The Reversal and Ohio Supreme Court Review
Appellate attorney Dan Eisenbrei argued that the trial court’s refusal to allow sur-rebuttal testimony had denied Sydney a fair trial. In December 2024, the Ninth District Court of Appeals agreed, reversed the conviction, and remanded the case. Judge Jennifer Hensal wrote that Sydney had an “unconditional right” to present sur-rebuttal expert testimony in support of her affirmative insanity defense, and that O’Bradovich’s testimony had raised new matters about the defense experts’ methodology that the defense was entitled to answer.
Malarcik said the family was “ecstatic and hopeful” after the ruling and wrote in a public statement that “people like Sydney who suffer from a serious mental disease do NOT belong in prison.” Laybourne added that the family would continue to support her.
Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich appealed the reversal to the Ohio Supreme Court on February 7, 2025, arguing that the Ninth District’s decision contradicted “more than a century of precedent” on sur-rebuttal evidence and that the appellate court failed to consider whether any error was harmless. Prosecutors warned the ruling could “serve as a vehicle to entirely rewrite the order of trials throughout the State of Ohio.”
The Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 7, 2026. If the court sides with prosecutors, Sydney’s original conviction is reinstated. If it upholds the appellate ruling, she could face a second trial.
Where Sydney Powell Is Now
Sydney Powell remains incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. State records list her parole eligibility date as September 2038. Steven Powell and the rest of the family continue to support her through the proceedings.