A woman
convicted of killing her boyfriend inside their Egg Harbor Township home was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday.
Eileen Leone was 35 when she struck Darius Smith repeatedly in the back of the head with a fire poker as he sat on the couch June 29, 2006, in the home they shared with their then-4-year-old daughter, according to the evidence presented at her trial earlier this year.
His skull was shattered.
The couple had been in an escalating argument at the time of the attack.
Leone called police to their home at the Heathercroft Condominium complex, where they found Smith suffering from head injuries.
The 32-year-old man died a few hours later at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's City Campus. But it would take eight years before the investigation led to Leone's arrest.
By that time, she was living in Margate.
It took a jury four hours to find her guilty of murder on Jan. 19.
"It took 10 years to bring this matter to its proper conclusion," Assistant Prosecutor Dave Ruffenach said after the verdict. "Although we know that nothing can make up for the loss of a family's loved one, we are happy that we could provide some justice and provide some peach for the family of Darius Smith."
Leone must serve all 30 years of her sentence, Judge Michael Blee ruled.
