By Evan Chu
Anita Santos, a woman who allegedly shot a man in his face in front of his wife, will be going to trial.
During the preliminary hearing, the alleged victim, who gave his testimony through a Spanish translator, came into court and testified that the defendant suddenly came up from his right side when he sat down on a bench along a hiking trail in West Sacramento with his wife.
According to the victim’s testimony, the defendant walked towards him and yelled, “What are you doing here?” to him. He claimed that when he first heard the defendant’s voice, he thought she was yelling at someone else. The defendant then allegedly switched from speaking English to Spanish, and based on the alleged victim’s statement, he felt hatred in the defendant’s voice.
The defendant allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and asked where he lived, then suddenly shot him twice. One shot landed on the victim’s right cheek, while the other shot was on his right arm. According to the victim, the defendant was standing approximately five to eight feet from him when she allegedly pulled the trigger.
The Prosecution also called Officer Nazariy Yakimchuk to testify. According to Officer Yakimchuk, when he arrived at the scene on the day of the incident, he was flagged down by the defendant. When asked about his encounter with the defendant, Officer Yakimchuk stated that the defendant told him that her friend was getting beaten, and also said that the officer could put her in handcuffs.
After putting the defendant in handcuffs, Officer Yakimchuk said that he did a pat search of the defendant and found a glass pipe for methamphetamine consumption and a BB gun loaded with metal BB powered by a CO2 canister. The officer also discovered a second CO2 canister and 0.5 grams of methamphetamine in the defendant’s purse.
The Prosecution also tried to call another officer to testify on the usage of methamphetamine and the regular amount of usage for users, but the defense attorney stipulated to the fact that the defendant was using methamphetamine.
The court has found sufficient evidence to refer this case to trial, and the arraignment date was set on Dec. 20, 2019.
