Woman sentenced for killing abusive father

NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A New York woman who castrated her abusive father has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for his death.

Brigette Harris, 29, was sentenced Friday for second-degree manslaughter in the death of Eric Goodridge, 55, The New York Daily News reported Saturday.

On July 28, 2007, Harris handcuffed Goodridge to a chair in her apartment, gagged him with a towel, severed his penis with a surgical scalpel and then cooked the penis so it couldn't be reattached.

Authorities said Goodridge had already been strangled when castrated.

Harris never intended to kill her father, but wanted to prevent him from sexually abusing his nieces as she had been abused by him since age 3, her defense lawyer said.

Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman acknowledged the abuse but said it was no excuse for Harris killing her father.

Harris said she researched a case in which Lorena Bobbitt severed her husband John Bobbitt's penis June 23, 1993 in their Manassas, Va., apartment.