GRACE PACKER

Five years after Grace Packer was raped and murdered by her adoptive mother and her mother’s boyfriend, officials say major changes to Pennsylvania’s foster care system still haven’t been made. NBC10’s Deanna Durante has the story.

In 2016, 14-year-old Grace Packer was raped and murdered by her adoptive mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Yet five years later, officials say major changes to Pennsylvania’s foster care system that could prevent another tragedy still haven’t been made.

A man sentenced to death for raping, strangling and dismembering his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter has died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm

A man sentenced to die for raping, strangling and dismembering his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter has asked a judge to instead give him a life term.

A Pennsylvania state government watchdog agency has launched an investigation into the horrific case of a 14-year-old girl who had extensive contact with the child welfare system before her 2016 rape, torture and murder, a lawmaker who requested the review announced Wednesday.

A report released Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that looked at the child welfare system tasked with caring for Grace Packer found a safety net overwhelmed and in need of more accountability at the county level.

A report released Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that looked at the child welfare system tasked with caring for Grace Packer found a safety net overwhelmed and in need of more accountability at the county level.

The adoptive mother of a teenage girl who was raped and killed as part of a sick fantasy in one of Pennsylvania’s most gruesome murders in recent history was sentenced to life in prison plus as much as another century in prison.

“The butchery in this case is beyond my ability to describe,” Common Pleas Judge Diane E. Gibbons said in court.

The judge called Jacob Sullivan a “coward” Thursday for requesting police protection in prison as she handed down the death penalty for the murder, rape and dismemberment of 14-year-old Grace Packer. “You have no soul. I have never said that to another human being,” said Judge Diane Gibbons. Sullivan’s girlfriend and Grace’s adoptive mother Sara Packer will be sentenced...

A jury outside Philadelphia has gone a second day without deciding whether to sentence a man to death for raping, strangling and dismembering his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter.

Life in prison or the death penalty? Jurors continue to deliberate in the sentencing for a man convicted of raping, killing and dismembering his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter.

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to the July 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend’s daughter. Grace’s adoptive mother, Sara Packer, pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

At any moment we could learn if Jacob Sullivan will be sentenced to death or life in prison after being convicted of raping and killing a foster child. The jury is deliberating.

The sentencing hearing for admitted killer Jacob Sullivan resumes Monday. Sullivan pleaded guilty to raping and killing teen Grace Packer as part of what Sullivan says was a rape-murder fantasy he shared with Grace’s adoptive mother.

Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to the July 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend’s daughter. Grace’s adoptive mother, Sara Packer, pleaded guilty in exchange for a life sentence.

Sara Packer testified in court Wednesday about how she helped plan the killing of her own adopted daughter. She told a jury that she did most of the work cleaning up the crime scene.

Warning: The details of this story are extremely graphic and could be disturbing to some readers.  A jury will decide life or death for Jacob Sullivan in the rape-murder fantasy killing for teenager Grace Packer. The teen’s adoptive mother, Sara Packer, is set to testify at sentencing.

After a chilling confession and vivid description of what happened when Grace Packer was murdered, jurors will be back in court Wednesday as the focus could turn from admitted killer Jacob Sullivan to Grace’s mother Sara Packer.

In the courtroom, the jury in Jacob Sullivan’s murder sentencing listened to recordings of him confessing to raping and killing 14-year-old Grace Packer. Warning: The details of this story are extremely graphic and could be disturbing to some viewers.