She Was Supposed To Care For A Disabled Man. Instead, She Took Out A Life Insurance Policy And Killed Him.

A caregiver in Florida took out an insurance policy for the man she was supposed to be caring for and listed herself as the beneficiary. Then she beat him to death.

Now, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Recently, a Florida judge sentenced Diane Reid, 60, to life in prison for the killing of a disabled man, 49-year-old Pernell Robinson. She was previously found guilty of second-degree murder for his death.

Reid was also convicted of neglect of a disabled adult, according to the 7th Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney in Florida.

On July 15, 2017, Reid beat the victim to death, prosecutors said. She then called police to report the victim was not breathing.

When officers arrived, they found the victim dead with severe bruising and injuries, prosecutors said.

Investigators determined that Reid took out a life insurance policy on the victim and listed herself as the beneficiary, according to prosecutors. It’s unclear how much she was set to earn from the policy.

Reid was Robinson’s caregiver as he was mentally ill and couldn’t take care of himself, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Robinson lived with Reid after his brother went to jail. He was with her for six weeks before he died.

“He had injuries on essentially every surface of his body,” Assistant State Attorney Tammy Jaques said during her opening statement of Reid’s trial, according to the News-Journal.

The defense tried to argue that the life insurance policy was not in effect, as the premium hadn’t been paid. Therefore, it couldn’t have been the motive.

But a jury disagreed and convicted her.

After the sentence, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said, “The defendant bound and beat our disabled and defenseless victim to death over a life insurance policy. It is especially troubling that the defendant was the caretaker of our victim, and used her position of trust to feed her greedy agenda.”