The woman who shot and killed two Kraft Foods co-workers in 2010 was sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms.
Yvonne Hiller, 45, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder on Sept. 10. On Monday, Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner imposed sentence on the former Crescentville resident, who likely will spend the rest of her life behind bars.
The district attorney’s office agreed not to seek the death penalty after Hiller dropped an insanity defense and waived her right to a trial by jury. Instead, she left her fate in Lerner’s hands.
Hiller shot and killed Tanya Wilson, 47, of the 3800 block of N. Franklin St., and LaTonya Brown, 36, of the 1100 block of W. Poplar St., during an evening shift in the Kraft plant at Roosevelt Boulevard and Byberry Road on Sept. 9, 2010.
She also wounded Bryant Dalton, 39, of the 5200 block of Kershaw St., in the neck and shoulder.
The attack stemmed from Hiller’s belief that her co-workers had been spraying her with harmful chemical substances or “deer urine,” according to prior testimony in the case.
On the night of the shootings, Hiller confronted Dalton and Brown about the suspected contamination. Supervisors soon got involved and, eventually, the supervisors suspended Hiller from her job in the facility’s mixing department, where they make popular Nabisco-brand treats like Oreo and Lorna Doone cookies.
In-house security officers escorted Hiller from the premises, but she went to her car and retrieved her .357-caliber Magnum, which she was licensed to carry, according to prior testimony. Hiller forced her way past a guarded gate and into the building, where she cornered her rivals in an employee break room and opened fire. ••
