GREENVILLE, Ga. -- Mina C. Ellery is facing a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty to the brutal murder of an 83-year-old Meriwether County grandmother.
Ellery was 17 years old on Aug. 4, 2016, when prosecutors said she and four others broke into Dot Dow's home and beat her severely before someone poured lighter fluid on the elderly woman and set her on fire.
The district attorney's office confirmed to 11Alive was sentenced to life with a minimum of 30 years to serve in prison.
Ellery pleaded guilty to a total of seven of the 23 charges against her for the grandmother's beating. Dow who was then doused in lighter fluid and set on fire, died less than a month after the crime.
According to police, Dow was sleeping when five suspects broke in and ransacked her home. Police said the suspects then asked the woman for the whereabouts of a family member and when she couldn't provide an answer, they assaulted her. Ellery was one of the five arrested after the initial investigation.
Prosecutors said Ellery also pleaded guilty to her involvement in a prior burglary at Dow's home on Aug. 2, 2016, two days before the deadly home invasion, and received additional sentences in connection with that crime.
