Teen Sentenced in Stabbing Case

A Saline County teen who stabbed her sister to death back in 2014 has been sentenced. Authorities tell KSAL News that 16-year-old Sierra Niehaus was sentenced Tuesday morning in Saline County District Court.

Sierra  was 14-years-old when she stabbed her 13-year-old sister to death inside their rural Saline County home back in August of 2014.

The case was scheduled to go to trial this Spring, until Sierra pled no contest in March to charges that include second-degree murder. The parents  of the girls approved of the plea agreement.

Tuesday morning Judge Patrick Thompson sentenced Sierra to the maximum he could, nearly 16 years in prison.

The case stems from the death of Galazia Niehaus. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a stabbing at about 1:45 in the morning on Friday, August 1st, 2014. When deputies arrived at the scene in Northwest Saline County they found the body of Galazia, who had been stabbed to death.

Sierra was arrested several hours after the stabbing, after investigators from the Saline County Sheriff’s Office conducted three separate interviews. Initially, Sierra told a story of three unknown men entering her home, and forcing her at gunpoint to drive to Salina. She said that she was able to get away from them, and ran to a friend’s nearby house. By the time the third interview was completed, Sierra conceded that she had stabbed her sister. But she said that she did not remember doing it, or remember why she did it.

As the case proceeded through court, Judge Thompson ruled that Sierra would be prosecuted as an adult.