Man pleads guilty in woman’s stabbing death near Marionville

MOUNT VERNON, Mo. (AP) – A 42-year-old man has pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman to death. James Pride was sentenced Wednesday after he admitted killing 53-year-old Patricia Urange in May 2020.

Pride was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal that called for a 25-year sentence.

Prosecutors said Lawrence County sheriff’s deputies found Urange’s body in the back of her car after Pride’s mother called to report the death.

The mother said Pride had shown her Urange’s body after she asked why the vehicle was parked by their home near Marionville.

An autopsy found Urange had been stabbed 17 times.