RADFORD, Va. – A former Radford University student pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to killing her roommate.
Luisa Cutting, 21, was then sentenced to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Alexa Cannon.
Recommended Videos
After serving 20 years in prison, the remaining 20 years of Cutting's sentence could be suspended with active supervised probation for 10 years.
During Monday's hearing, more information came to light about what led to Cutting murdering Cannon.
Radford City Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak talked about how Cutting participated in recorded interviews, confessing to killing Cannon without a real explanation as to why.
At times during those interviews she was incoherent, but at other points, she would be lucid. She couldn't recall certain parts of the incident or the hours leading up to the murder.
During the interviews, Cutting was praying, mentioning the apocalypse and saying that she did cocaine with the devil.
Rehak said that there was some evidence that Cutting was reciting "Hail Mary" in Spanish over and over.
He said that Cutting did express some remorse for her actions and had knowledge of what happened.
She also admitted to taking a combination of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, mushrooms and cocaine the night before she murdered Cannon.
Rehak said that evidence also suggested that Cutting had a lack of sleep in the previous days.
All those factors combined triggered a psychotic episode, said Rehak.
Once incarcerated, Cutting's behavior became so bizarre that jail staffers applied for an emergency custody order, according to Rehak.
She spent a week at a mental health facility and later, while at the jail, was trying to shove her hands into her mouth.
Rehak also said that had the case gone to trial, the prosecution would have entered 911 calls, body camera videos, pictures and Cutting's confession as evidence.
Cutting also spoke at her hearing to apologize for her actions.
"There are no words for this tragedy. And my heart is filled with sorrow and grief. My heart goes out to the Cannon family. I am so, so sorry. I take full responsibility for this. Again, I am so, so sorry for this tragedy. I'd like to thank my parents and friends for being by my side as I am so thankful and again there are no words for this tragedy. Thank you," said Cutting.