People v. McIntire CA4/2

BACKGROUND

The People charged McIntire with the murder of Diana Perez and the fetus she

was carrying, Baby Doe. (Pen. Code § 187, subd. (a); unlabeled statutory references are

to this code.)

I. Events from 2019 through early December 2020

Perez and McIntire started dating sometime in 2018 or 2019. In the first part of

2019, the couple lived in a rented room in a house. The landlord testified that McIntire

acted aggressively toward Perez and would “keep her locked up” in the bedroom, getting

upset and yelling at her when she left the room. When they were inside their bedroom,

the landlord heard arguing, McIntire knocking on doors and walls, and McIntire yelling

at Perez. In September 2019, the couple moved to a room in a different house, where

Perez always seemed “very nervous, [and] very scared.”

In September 2019, Perez told her family that she was pregnant. Before Perez

started dating McIntire, she had a close relationship with her younger sister, Christy P.,

but Perez became “very distant” thereafter. Before she disclosed the pregnancy, Perez

told Christy that McIntire had both physically and verbally abused her. Perez feared

McIntire and was unable to…