DA To Seek Death Penalty in Venna Murder

Prosecutors will reportedly seek the death penalty for Raghunandan Yandamuri, the accused killer of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and her grandmother, according to WPVI-TV (Action News).

61-year-old Satayvahti Venna, who was babysitting for Saanvi, was murdered in the family's Upper Merion apartment last October.

Saanvi was abducted from the apartment and later found dead in a sauna room at the apartment complex.

Yandamuri, 26, gave authorities a confession in which he described murdering the elder Venna during a botched scheme to ransom Saanvi to her parents for $50,000. Yandamuri had lost $15,000 gambling in the week prior to the murders.