KC man sentenced for hammer attack on blind woman

A Kansas City man who beat a blind woman with a hammer has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Robert Schieber imposed the sentence on Larry D. Simms Thursday after earlier finding Simms guilty of multiple assault and weapons charges stemming from an incident last May in which he attacked several women, including his blind ex-girlfriend.

Simms, 54, denied attacking the woman with a hammer, and said he punched the other women in self defense because they attacked him with a knife.

Tony Rizzo, trizzo@kcstar.com

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 12:34 PM with the headline "KC man sentenced for hammer attack on blind woman."