By Kianna Anvari
SACRAMENTO — Norva Patton was present in Sacramento County Superior Court this week in an orange outfit, with a cane resting against her legs, far removed from Sept. 7, 2019, at approximately 5 a.m. when deputies from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department found a man unresponsive in a pool of blood at her home.
A lethal stab wound from a knife to the heart was the cause of death declared by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office. The toxicology report showed presence of methamphetamine in the victim’s blood, but the pathologist said that did not play a role in the cause of death.
Patton, the victim’s girlfriend, is now in custody under two counts: murder of a human being with malice afterthought, and the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
According to authorities, Patton admitted she killed her boyfriend.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Chisholm questioned three sworn peace officers from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department during Patton’s preliminary hearing.
Deputy Aaron Muradyan recalled the night of the victim’s death, saying he found a male at the bottom of the staircase of the apartment building. Up the stairs he could hear Patton yelling from the balcony, but could not understand what she was saying. He saw blood trailing from the apartment door.
The deputy performed a protective sweep inside while his partner, Deputy Perez, stood with Patton and two young children. Inside the house, Muradyan found their roommate, Kenneth Garner. He had no blood on him and was escorted to the patrol vehicle; he was not handcuffed or arrested.
During cross-examination, Assistant Public Defender Patricia Contreras asked if Muradyan remembered Patton’s demeanor. He could not recall if she was crying or angry, whether she had blood on her, or if she had any injuries.
When asked if he ever saw Patton try to leave the area, he said, “No, I didn’t pay attention to her.”
He could not remember how many rooms were in the apartment, nor which room Garner was in, though he performed the protective sweep. He did recall that Garner had a knife, but did not know where it was located.
Deputy Ramon Perez was questioned next by Chisholm. Perez said that he stood with the female (Patton) and the two children when they arrived at the scene. After the apartment was cleared, Perez escorted Patton to the patrol vehicle to wait without handcuffs.
Perez said that Patton spontaneously turned around and said, “I did it.”
PD Contreras objected to hearsay, which was overruled due to party admission.
The deputy said Patton did not say anything else as she turned around and voluntarily put her hands behind her back. Perez then handcuffed her and placed her in the back of the patrol car.
During cross-examination, Contreras inquired about Patton’s behavior when the deputy arrived. Perez said that she was frantically pacing, while trying to keep the kids calm. He added that she was cooperative. When asked if he saw any blood on her, he said no.
Finally, the prosecution called Detective Kevin Lawrence for questioning. Lawrence recorded an interview with Patton at the Centralized Investigation Unit later that morning.
She told Lawrence that the victim was her boyfriend. The two kids, ages six and eight, were the victim’s children that she raised as her own.
She mentioned that there was a previous domestic violence incident, but she did not press charges because he had fled the state.
Patton told the detective that she and her boyfriend had been arguing the previous day because of his meth usage. She was upset that he was not ready to take the kids to school nor was he able to drive her to her doctor’s appointment. She said that he stayed awake all night in chat rooms.
Patton went to visit a friend the evening before her boyfriend’s death. He was also not home and lost his keys to the house.
When she returned home at 2 a.m., he started calling her names and cursing her out. She said that he took the kids to sleep in his car, as he usually did when they argued.
Patton told the detective she threw a toy at her boyfriend and the two of them started wrestling on the ground. No punches or kicks were thrown at any point. She flipped him over, and then he pinned her down. She said, “Okay, fine, let me go.”
He released her and said, “You’re gonna make me do something to you.” To which she responded, “You’re not gonna do anything to me.”
Patton told the detective he walked out to his car and she screamed at him from the window. When he came back up, she hit him with a knife. She told Detective Lawrence that she was trying to hit his upper arm.
Lawrence recalled that she repeatedly said she stabbed him to “try to make him stop talking s**t.” He added that she did not indicate that she was acting in self-defense.
Judge Trena H. Burger-Plavan said that there was sufficient cause to believe that Patton was guilty of the two counts and was ordered held to answer at trial on a date to be determined.
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