Wyatt Testerman took his time to set up his grandmother’s cellphone to record himself brutally beating her to death in an unprovoked attack. The judge who presided over his murder case likened the video to a staged production.
Testerman, 19, was sentenced on July 7 in Kenton County Circuit Court to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years. He pleaded guilty but mentally ill in May to a single count of murder.
Testerman had just turned 18 and was living in Erlanger with his grandmother, 74-year-old Cheri Oliver, in October 2024 because of substance-use issues. That’s when he beat Oliver to death, repeatedly striking her with his hands, feet and a stainless steel drinking tumbler, prosecutors said.
He recorded two videos: one 11-minute clip of Oliver sitting in a rocking chair and another of the woman’s killing. He also sent text messages to his mother, saying that he intended to kill Oliver if she got up from her chair.
“She will be beaten to a pulp,” Testerman wrote. “No mercy for terrorists.”
Prosecutors said in a court filing that Testerman was shown in the videos closing the curtains, rolling up the living room rug and pushing away the coffee table before commencing the assault.
“This is the most premeditated murder I’ve ever seen,” Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said in court.
First responders arrived at the Ridgewood Drive home to find Oliver lying on the living room floor with significant head injuries. She died of blunt force trauma. Court filings state that Testerman struck the woman more than 40 times and stomped her roughly 12 times.
Attorney cites drug-induced psychosis leading up to the killing
Testerman was staying with his grandmother because his parents believed the home to be a safe place for him while they searched his bedroom for drugs, prosecutors said.
He was hospitalized for altered behavior, drug use and possible psychosis less than two weeks before the killing, according to court filings.
Testerman suffered from drug-induced psychosis stemming from his use of LSD, Timothy Schneider, his attorney, said in court. The attorney noted that nothing in Testerman’s background would indicate that he’s capable of this level of violence.
“He’s here because of his decision to voluntarily abuse drugs,” Schneider said, asking the judge for a lighter sentence of 20 years. “In an odd way, in some fashion, it’s not the same person.”
Judge finds that more than drug use was involved in grandmother’s death
Testerman told the judge that his drug use caused the psychosis that made him believe it was necessary to harm his grandmother. He said that for weeks after the killing, he still justified his actions as self-defense.
“Almost two years later, I have now improved to the point to know how crazy that was,” Testerman said. “I pray every day that she knows how much I love her, and how sorry I am for what I did.”
Judge Patricia Summe rejected Testerman’s request for a lesser sentence, finding that the violent and malicious nature of the crime showed that something more than drugs was at play.
“I don’t think it’s just about drugs … there was nothing that said that you were on drugs at that point,” she said. “If you could do this to your grandmother, I don’t know what you could do to the rest of the community.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man sentenced for killing grandma in unprovoked attack, recording it
Reporting by Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Quinlan Bentley, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
