By Danae Snell
SACRAMENTO — The alleged victim was taking a nap when his mother ripped the blankets off him and woke him by showing him a knife, and then threw it at him—later, she stabbed him, too.
The mother, defendant Shirin Matyakubova, was in Sacramento County Superior Court Friday, after allegations of throwing a knife at her son more than once and also stabbing him twice in the upper part of his chest.
The 15-year-old victim suffered from “a traumatic pneumothorax laceration to the left front wall of the thorax with penetration into thoracic cavity”—which led to over a weeklong pediatric ICU 
stay, according to Deputy District Attorney Daniel Jensen.
Defendant Matyakubova is being charged with three separate counts:
PC § 273(a), “…willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or having the care or custody of any child”; PC § 12022.7. “Any person who personally inflicts great bodily injury on any person”; and PC § 245(a)(1), “Any person who commits an assault upon the person of another with a deadly weapon.”
Before beginning with the evidence Judge Geoffrey Goodman asked the courtroom, “Is there anything we need to discuss before proceeding to the evidence?”
The defendant’s defense attorney Kyle Knapp stated, “We need tissues.”
A little surprised by this request the judge responded, “We will supply you with it,” and the tissues were handed to the defendant who already appeared to be emotional.
DDA Jensen summoned Deputy Sheriff Casey Pitto to the stand via Zoom to discuss what occurred when he arrived at the scene.
According to the officer, the victim claimed, “He got into an argument with his mother about 7 a.m. that day about the amount of time he was playing video games.” He said he then asleep in his room and then heard a “knocking on the door.
“He stated that his mom somehow entered the room and was very angry with him. She pulled the blanket off of him and she was holding a knife,” according to the deputy, who said the victim described the knife as “a kitchen knife, but he could not remember the color.”
The DDA then proceeded to ask, “What is the very next thing he said occurred?”
“He said that she threw the knife at him while he was on the bed” the deputy said, adding, “he said it struck him once in the back and she threw it again and struck him in the leg…the knife landed on the bed so he picked it up and ran out of the room into the hallway where he tripped and fell.”
After falling on the ground, defendant Matyakubova allegedly was able to get the knife away from him and “made him lay on the ground while she stabbed him twice on the upper part of his chest.”
After being stabbed twice, the victim was “able to get away and he ran outside to the apartment office to get help, but nobody was in there because it was late. So, he started yelling for help in the parking lot where a woman located him,” said the witness. A bystander called 911 and sheltered him in her car.
Deputy Pitto described the wounds on the “upper left side of his chest about an inch and a half apart. The top one was approximately one inch long and the bottom was approximately three quarters of an inch.”
Before the DDA concluded his direct examination, he introduced into evidence photos of the victim on a hospital bed—which depicted the two stab wounds.
The defense opened his cross-examination by asking, “You basically talked to him twice about the mechanisms of how he was injured, correct?” Deputy Pitto informed the courtroom that he gathered a statement from the victim when he arrived at the scene and again at the hospital.
“You also testified that you never took a statement or met the Defendant Matyakubova, correct?” the defense asked, and Pitto said he was unable to gather any statements from the defendant.
Defense Attorney Knapp also questioned whether or not the deputy clarified with the victim on how exactly the defendant took the knife and threw it two times.
Deputy Pitto stated that he did not.
The defense also asked the deputy if the victim “was really mad because the internet had been taken away”—which he was, according to Pitto.
Which led to Knapp asking, “Did you pursue with him whether or not this angry feeling was still in existence when the incident occurred with his mother?” However, the deputy did not.
Once the defense concluded, the DDA stepped in to ask one more following question pertaining to how the deputy managed to identify the defendant during the investigation.
According to Pitto, “It was her most recent booking (photo) at the main jail” which was from the same date as the incident he responded to.
This question led Defense Attorney Knapp to ask a few clarifying questions about the deputy’s response.
“Do you have any indication that she has more than one booking photo in her existence, Deputy Pitto?” the defense asked.
When the deputy asked for the defense to repeat his question, Knapp angrily responded by stating, “So when you say the most recent booking photo, it is the only booking photo to your knowledge that Ms. Matyakubova ever had, correct?”
Deputy Pitto quickly answered, “Correct,” and the defense concluded.
The defense argued, “In the manner in which it is described, at least to the deputy, about infliction of bodily injury and how he got stabbed, it is very, very mysterious and leaves a lot to be desired.
“I would ask for there not to be a holding order on the great bodily injury or the underlying offenses because it appears that he probably was stabbed in mutual combat,” the defense concluded.
With both arguments submitted from both sides, Judge Goodman stated, “Therefore it appears to me the offenses and complaints have been committed and there is sufficient evidence to believe the defendant is guilty thereof.”
Defendant Matyakubova will be back in the courtroom Oct. 23 for arraignment and trial setting.
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