ECTOR COUNTY, TX — An Odessa woman has been sentenced to life in prison plus 110 years after being convicted in the 2022 death of her disabled sister.
Christine Raines was found guilty of Murder, Injury to a Disabled Person, Tampering with a Human Corpse, and Tampering with Evidence by an Ector County jury on Friday.
The case began when police responded on January 29, 2022, to a home on Amber Drive after 53-year-old Brenda Raines, a woman with Down Syndrome, was discovered dead under horrific conditions.
Brenda was found on a filthy crib mattress on the floor, wearing a soiled diaper and covered in bedsores. She was severely malnourished, weighing just 66 pounds at the time of her death. The mattress was also soiled with dog feces and urine.
Christine, Brenda’s sister and primary caretaker, admitted Brenda could not walk, speak, feed, or bathe herself. Though she claimed she never left Brenda alone overnight, security footage showed Christine leaving the home around 7:30 p.m. and not returning until 3 p.m. the following day.
An autopsy ruled Brenda’s death a homicide caused by starvation.
Two other family members, Justin Raines and Elvira Luera, have pleaded guilty to lesser charges earlier this year.
