GRANT COUNTY — The woman accused of murdering her stepdaughter and then storing her body in a trash bag in the shed will claim "mental disease" as her defense in the case.
Amanda Carmack, 34, was arrested on September 4, after investigators say she admitted to killing 10-year-old Skylea Carmack in the barn behind their house. Court documents filed against Carmack say she told detectives how she choked the young girl with her hands and then tied "something" around her neck.
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She told investigators she killed Skylea because she was "angry."
Skylea's cause of death was determined by the Grant County Coroner to be "asphyxia by strangulation."
Carmack waived her right to counsel at her initial hearing on September 9, but she was appointed a public defender on September 17.
On Thursday, her attorney filed a notice informing the court of their intent to use "mental disease or defect" as their defense.
Carmack's trial is scheduled to begin on February 3, 2020.
