Woman Who Killed Grandmother With Kiwi Dies in Prison

Christina Black. Prison photo.

Christina Black, 52, had been living in an Arizona prison since 1999, when she was sentenced to life for killing her grandmother. According to court records, Black confessed to shoving a kiwi fruit down the old woman’s throat during a visit. She almost got away with it–reason for death was deemed natural causes–but her conscience got to her and she turned herself in. ”She said, ‘I can’t stand the guilt anymore. I killed my grandmother,’ ” said Carlos Espinosa, Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Black was from Orlando and her grandmother, 88-year-old Helen Gerstung, lived in Apache Junction, Arizona, but was buried in Illinois. After Black described to police, who thought she was crazy, how she’d stuffed the fruit down Gerstung’s throat and held her nose shut, authorities in Illinois exhumed her body. Kiwi seeds were found in her mouth. Apache Junction police Lt. Brian Duncan said Black killed Gerstung “to carry out a premonition,” adding, “she has some mental problems.

Tuesday, Black was found dead at the Perryville prison complex in Goodyear. Prison authorities say her death was an apparent suicide.

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