Assistant gets prison for killing NYC music figure

A personal assistant convicted of killing a star real estate broker with a punk-rock past was sentenced Monday to decades in prison, insisting on her innocence while a judge called her "almost inhuman."

Natavia Lowery was sentenced to 27 years to life in the slaying of Linda Stein, who comanaged influential punk rockers the Ramones in their 1970s heyday and later became a real estate broker with clients including Madonna and Sting.

She was found dead in her Fifth Avenue penthouse in 2007, the victim of a vicious beating that at first seemed a mystery but was later prosecuted as a case of an employee who exploited her boss' trust to steal thousands of dollars from her and killed to keep the theft quiet.

Lowery, who didn't testify at her trial, vowed to appeal.

"My innocence will continuously remain," Lowery said in a brief statement before she was sentenced. "This is just the beginning of a new fight, of a new beginning, to get a fair trial."

In words laced with tears and anger, one of Stein's two daughters reproached Lowery for not expressing regret for the crime.

"You are a disgusting person," Samantha Stein-Wells told Lowery in court. "Where, where is your apology? Where is your remorse?" Stein-Wells added as Lowery looked through documents at the defense table. "You are truly a cold, ruthless killer."

Lowery's lawyer and family said she had no cause to apologize for a crime she maintains she had nothing to do with.

"We are confident that, when all the issues are raised on appeal, Ms. Lowery will be cleared of these horrendous charges," said her lawyer, Paul Brenner.

Lowery helped the 62-year-old broker with clerical work and personal tasks, some of which Stein had trouble performing in the wake of breast cancer surgery.

Lowery, 28, admitted in a videotaped statement that she killed Stein but later recanted. In the confession, Lowery said she lashed out on Oct. 30, 2007, after the broker hassled her about the pace of her work and blew marijuana smoke in her face. No trace of the drug was found in Stein's body.

Lowery also was convicted of stealing more than $30,000 from Stein during their four-month working relationship.

In the hours after the killing, Lowery ran errands for Stein, went out to lunch with a co-worker, fielded phone calls for the broker and left messages for Stein and members of Stein's family - all efforts to cover her tracks, prosecutors said.