By Aaron Burgin, The Porterville Recorder
A judge ruled Friday morning that a 17-year-old boy will stand trial for allegedly stabbing and killing his mother in October during a violent tirade stemming from a breakup with his 12-year-old girlfriend.
Miguel Ruiz is also accused of attempting to kidnap his girlfriend and threatening to kill his girlfriend's sisters after thrashing her family's home and stabbing his mother, Maria Ruiz, Oct. 12, 2006.
Tulare County Superior Court Judge Juliet Boccone bound Ruiz over for trial after an hour-long preliminary hearing. He is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 6 for felony first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping, terrorist threats and vandalism charges.
Ruiz, who will be tried as an adult, faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
“This is a tragic case for everyone,” Prosecutor Sara Bratsch said. “The family has lost a mother, and would like to see this case resolved in an acceptable matter, but ... this is a murder case.”
The officer who arrested Ruiz and the detective handling the case recounted the events, some as told to them by Ruiz's girlfriend, identified only by her first name, “Jessica.”
Porterville Police Department officer Jeff Dowling briefly described the crime scene upon his arrival. Detective Dominic Barteau said he talked to Jessica after the stabbing.
The two children had been romantically involved for almost a year when Jessica's mother told her to break off the relationship.
Jessica told police that within minutes of the breakup, Miguel Ruiz “lost control”: He smashed out the windows of her home, and entered her house screaming her name. She said she hid in a younger sister's room, then ran out of the home after Miguel Ruiz threw an object and shattered the family's big-screen television and got a knife from the kitchen.
Jessica, Barteau said, went to get Maria Ruiz in an effort to calm the boy down. After a brief conversation with his mother in Spanish, Miguel Ruiz allegedly rushed her and stabbed her in the chest, and then in her back as she fell to the floor.
“Jessica then asked him why he stabbed his mother,” Barteau said. “He said, ‘She shouldn't be getting in my business.' ”
Jessica then ran into Ruiz's house to get the boy's younger sister from the residence, at which time, Barteau said, Miguel Ruiz grabbed Jessica's wrist and told her to go to his brother's house.
Ruiz threatened to stab and kill her sisters if she did not comply, Barteau said.
The girl ran back into her home and locked the doors. Miguel Ruiz, standing outside the door, told her that he would “wait for her mother,” Barteau said.
Jessica, Barteau said, ran outside of the house and into Larson Street. According to previous reports, neighbors subdued the boy and called an ambulance for the mother.
Maria Ruiz died at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 12. A coroner determined the next day she died from a single stab wound to the chest.
Defense attorney David Liebowitz asked few questions, and called no witnesses during the preliminary hearing.
While the District Attorney's Office sees the case as premeditated murder, it will be up to a jury to decide if his reaction to the breakup was a normal response.
They would also be investigating his past to see if there were any other violent incidents.
“There has to be something out there like this, and I know that the defense will also be looking into that, too,” Bratsch said.
Currently, no plea deals have been discussed between the defense and prosecution, Bratsch said.
After the hearing, Liebowitz declined to comment on details of the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
“What I can tell you is that it is sad, it's really a sad case,” Liebowitz said. “There are no winners in this case, especially the family.
“He [Miguel] is broken, he is devastated,” Liebowitz said. “The best line to describe it was that ‘he was totally out of control.' ”
Contact Aaron Burgin at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or aburgin@portervillerecorder.com.
This story was published in The Porterville Recorder on Jan. 20, 2007
