Niece Charged With Killing 60-Year-Old Aunt

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — A West St. Paul woman is charged will killing her aunt who prosecutors say threatened to expose her illegal drug use.

Dakota County prosecutors say 40-year-old Divina Marie Sulentich strangled 60-year-old Mary Susan Sulentich July 8 or July 9 in West St. Paul. A criminal complaint says Sulentich was found dead in her apartment July 12 by someone sent to check on her. That person told police the niece had been staying with her aunt since April to help her following knee surgery.

The complaint says the two women struggled when the victim threatened to tell others about the niece's illegal drug purchases. Prosecutors say the niece told police she squeezed her aunt's neck until she went limp and later left in her car.

Divina Sulentich has been charged with second-degree murder.