Woman accused of death threats to Sandy Hook massacre parent

A woman has been charged with making death threats against the parent of a child who died in the Sandy Hook school shooting massacre, authorities say.

Lucy Richards made the threats in January this year because she thought the attack was a hoax, officials say.

The 57-year-old, of Tampa, Florida, allegedly wrote in messages, "you gonna die, death is coming to you real soon".

She was arrested on Monday on four felony counts of transmitting threats, the US Justice Department said.

Court records do not identify the victim, but Lenny Pozner, who lost his six-year-old son Noah in the attack, told the Tampa Bay Times he received the threats.

Ms Richards allegedly sent all four threats to Mr Pozner, who now lives in South Florida, on the same day from Palm Beach County, though the federal indictment does not specify how.

Other messages said, "LOOK BEHIND YOU IT IS DEATH" and "there's nothing you can do about it", according to court documents.

"Richards' belief that the school shooting was a hoax and never happened motivated her to make the charged threats," a statement from the US Attorney's Office said.

It is not clear why she doubted the December 2012 Sandy Hook massacre - in which a rifle-wielding man killed 20 children and six educators at a Connecticut primary school - actually took place.

But a few conspiracy theorists - so-called Sandy Hook truthers - have argued the shooting was staged using actors by the federal government as a pretext to introduce gun control measures.

If convicted, Ms Richards faces up to 20 years in prison.