People v. Ligons CA5

FACTS

Background On the evening of September 18, 2014, Ligons was with her children, ages two and nine, walking her pit bull on a leash, near Mary Lara’s house in Fresno, California. As they approached Lara’s front yard, Lara told Ligons to keep her dog on a leash because of Lara’s cats. After telling Ligons she had killed two dogs before, Lara taunted Ligons to come closer, and she poked the pit bull on the nose with a metal bar. Ligons walked towards Lara, prompting Lara to close the gate to her yard and walk away. Ligons opened the gate, retrieved a knife from her bra and stabbed Lara repeatedly, fatally wounding her. As Lara lay on the ground bleeding, Ligons quickly walked away, ignoring a neighbor’s plea for her to stop. Thurman Ligons (Thurman) soon drove up and began helping Ligons load the children and the dog into the car as Veronica Fierro, Lara’s daughter, confronted Ligons about the stabbing. After putting metal rings on his hand and punching the neighbor on the head, Thurman drove away with Ligons, the children, and the dog. On September 21, 2014, Ligons was arrested. In a post-arrest statement, Ligons told the officers that as she walked past Lara’s house, Lara…