US: Indian kills baby, her grandma; gets death sentence

Washington, Oct 15: An India, convicted of killing a baby and her grandmother, was sentenced to death on Tuesday by a Philadelphia court.

During the hearing, the twin murderer told a judge that he would rather accept death than listen to others debate his fate, said a AP report.

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 27, was convicted of first-degree murder last week in the 2012 of killing a 10-month-old child Saanvi Venna and her 61-year-old grandmother Satayrathi Venna in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The baby's parents Venkata Konda Siva Venna, and Chenchu Latha Punuru, both software engineers, were immigrants who moved to the United States from India in February 2007. The grand mother was visiting from India to help take care of the child.

According to the prosecutors, Yandamuri had initially planned to kidnap the two as he wanted money to pay for gambling debts, but ended up killing them.

According to the prosecutors, Yandamuri was a family friend of the child's parents. He planned to kidnap the baby girl and hold her hostage to get $50,000 from her parents.

However, the kidnapping plot got botched and he ended up instead killed her and her grandmother.

According to the report, the grandmother discovered his plot and the tussle that followed, she was fatally stabbed.

The baby was reportedly suffocated to death. The killer stuffed a handkerchief into the baby's mouth to quiet her, then wrapped a towel around her head and put her in a suitcase, according to an affidavit filed by police.

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