Kathleen Hopkins

Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

ASBURY PARK, N.J. — A 39-year-old New Jersey woman Thursday admitted killing her grandmother, acknowledging she beat the frail 94-year-old and left her incapacitated for a weekend before going in for "round two" and again beating her "into submission."

Katherine Schubert, of Brick, N.J., pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels in Toms River, N.J., admitting she caused the death in 2014 of Mary Driscoll, her maternal grandmother with whom she lived in Brick.

Schubert, at times crying while answering questions posed by the Ocean County prosecutor’s chief trial attorney, said she could not remember much of what happened, but acknowledged actions and inaction that led to her grandmother’s death.

Schubert acknowledged beating Driscoll twice, once on a Friday night, May 16, 2014, after she had been drinking, and again on Sunday, May 18, 2014, said Laura Pierro, the prosecutor’s chief trial attorney.

Suspect in grandmother's slaying was on probation

In between the first and second beatings, Schubert acknowledged leaving her grandmother incapacitated on the floor of their home all weekend, while failing to feed her or get her medical attention, Pierro said.

Responding to Pierro’s questions, Schubert acknowledged that she told police she tried to get her grandmother up off the ground that Sunday and put her in pajamas and to bed, but her grandmother struggled, and Schubert said she had to "go in for round two and beat her into submission."

A friend of Schubert’s that day showed up at the house in the Lion’s Head adult residential community and found the elderly woman slumped over a bed in her underwear, the defendant acknowledged.

When her friend dialed 911 to get an ambulance for Driscoll, Schubert said she tried to grab the phone from her hand, but was unsuccessful, Pierro said.

Driscoll was taken to the hospital, where she died on May 24, 2014.

Dr. Ian Hood, forensic pathologist for the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, ruled Driscoll’s death a homicide, determining that she died as a result of complications from head trauma.

Pierro said that she and Michelle Armstrong, supervising assistant prosecutor, will ask Daniels to impose an eight-year prison term on Schubert when he sentences her June 10. Schubert will be required to serve 85% of whatever prison term she receives before she can be considered for release on parole, under the state’s No Early Release Act. Manslaughter carries a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years.

Responding to questions posed by defense attorney Alton Kenney, Schubert acknowledged she was giving up her right to pursue a self-defense claim or an intoxication defense. She admitted that she got herself intoxicated, but acknowledged that was no defense for what she did to her grandmother.

Woman charged in grandmother's slaying

Schubert said she began drinking May 16, after having an argument with her mother. She didn’t recall what she drank, but Pierro said there were two bottles of liquor found at the scene. One was Maker’s Mark bourbon, Pierro said.

Schubert’s argument with her mother stemmed from her plans to go out with a friend she made while in a drug rehabilitation program, Pierro said. Schubert said she had only been living with her grandmother and her mother at the home for two weeks, after graduating from the program, Pierro said.

She had plans to go out that Friday with her friend, but she argued with her mother, Michele Schubert, who was going to Montauk, N.Y., that weekend to open up her summer home and leaving her daughter responsible for the care of Driscoll, who was in poor health and unable to care for herself after a hospitalization, Pierro said.

When Schubert’s friend arrived to pick her up, he kicked her out of his car because she was inebriated, she later told police. Schubert, embarrassed, went back inside the house, got into an argument with her grandmother and beat her, she acknowledged in court, although she said couldn’t remember the events.

Schubert said she didn’t seek medical assistance because her grandmother didn’t want her to call for an ambulance, so she left her on the floor of the home all weekend, without feeding her. At one point that weekend, she left the house to grub cigarettes from a neighbor, Pierro said. Katherine Schubert ignored telephone calls from people, including her mother, Pierro said. But she acknowledged that at one point that Sunday, she called her mother to tell her that something bad had happened to Driscoll, Pierro said.

Michele Schubert showed up at the house just after her daughter’s friend summoned an ambulance, Pierro said. Authorities found Katherine Schubert sitting in the kitchen.

Michele Schubert sat in court crying Thursday as her daughter admitted responsibility for Driscoll’s death, Pierro said.

When the fatal beating took place, Katherine Schubert was on probation for endangering the welfare of a child by driving intoxicated with a minor in the car, according to court records. That offense occurredJuly 10, 2013, in Bergen County, N.J., according to the court records. She was sentenced to three years on probation in February 2014.

Follow Kathleen Hopkins on Twitter: @Khopkinsapp