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A CHILDHOOD cancer survivor has spoken out amid accused killer, Sydney Powell’s, trial for brutally stabbing a beloved woman who has helped thousands of other sick children.
Brenda Powell, 50, worked at Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio.
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Brenda, 50, was more than a hospital worker, but a friend and even a mother figure to her patients.
“You could talk to anybody and everybody could tell you she’s probably like a mom figure, but she was really like a mom figure to me because my mom wasn’t there,” Samantha Soltesz, a former patient at Akron Children’s Hospital, exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
Samantha, now 27, was just 10 years old when she met Brenda and was diagnosed with adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2006.
“Brenda really was an angel in this incredibly hard time and life shift,” Samanta said.
A couple of months before her diagnosis, Samantha’s mom abandoned her family, leaving her dad to raise the kids.
Samantha said it “wasn’t an easy time for us,” adding that Brenda was there for her and her dad.
“He wouldn’t have been able to get through it without her,” she said.
Samantha added: “Anytime I had a spinal tap, a bone marrow surgery, Brenda was there. I would not let the doctor do anything.
“Brenda would hold my hand and she’d talk to me through it and my dad would always leave the room.”
Samantha recalled Brenda speaking highly of her daughter Sydney, saying that she was on the soccer team and had good grades.
Over a decade later, Sydney would stand accused of killing her mom, a woman who impacted Samantha’s life and the lives of countless others.
“There’s hundreds of thousands of families that she’s helped over the years going through the hardest thing in their life,” Samantha said of Brenda.
In March 2020, Sydney, then 19, allegedly stabbed her mom to death after getting into an argument, according to police docs obtained by Court TV.
It was revealed during the trial that Brenda was stabbed 23 times, mainly in the neck and back of the head, according to the outlet.
Police found Brenda injured after a welfare check was requested by someone at the University of Mount Union, where Sydney was previously a student. Brenda later died in the hospital.
The 911 caller said he had spoken to Sydney over the phone and heard “yelling and screaming.”
During the first few days of Sydney’s trial, Akron Police Lieutenant David Whiddon took the stand and claimed that it became clear while looking through Sydney’s phone that she was no longer attending college after being placed on academic probation.
“You could tell by a lot of the messages that you know, she had not told her family, that her mom wasn’t aware of this,” Whiddon explained.
While the motive behind Brenda’s murder is still unclear, Sydney pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of murder, felony assault, and tampering with evidence.
Sydney’s defense attorney reportedly claims that the now-23-year-old was suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia during the time of the murder, struggling amid a psychotic break.
“I just feel like she did it more out of panic, not out of insanity,” Samantha said.
Samantha believes Sydney needs to be held accountable for her alleged crimes.
“I really just want to see her held accountable and take responsibility for this,” Samantha said.
“It’s just heartbreaking and devastating and it affected so many more people than I’ll ever know.”
Samantha added: “I just really want to see some justice for Brenda and all the people that were affected by it.”
