‘I did stab my mother’: Redmond woman facing murder charge in mother’s killing makes court admission
Barney Lerten
Judge had urged her not to speak; Jessica Andersch said she killed to protect her son
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Redmond woman facing a murder charge in the fatal stabbing of her mother two months ago admitted the crime during a court hearing Thursday, claiming she did so to protect her son.
Despite a warning by Deschutes County Circuit Judge Wells Ashby that her statements could be used against her in court and urging her to stop, Jessica Marie Andersch, 42, made her statement twice during a plea hearing on a second-degree murder charge.
“Your honor, may I say something?” Anderch asked, taking part in the proceeding by video from the county jail, where she’s being held without bail since her arrest.
Ashby urged her not to speak now, in order to protect her rights. But she proceeded to do so anyway.
“Aside from that, I did stab my mother,” she said. “I did stab the being that represented herself as Tracy Berry.”
“Ms. Andersch, please stop,” the judge said. “Please, stop.”
But Andersch continued: “I just, I just – please, send me to prison. I’d rather be there than around these people that I believe hurt my son.”
It was not the first such admission by Andersch, who lived with her mother at a home on SW Glacier Avenue. Authorities said she called 911 to report she’d killed her mother, and arriving officers found her at the home with blood on her clothing, hands and face.
On Thursday, at the request of her attorney, Lee Griffith, Ashby delayed her plea entry a second time, to Oct. 1. The judge also agreed to a request by Andersch that she be transported to the courthouse to appear in person at the next hearing, rather than by video from the jail.