Found Sane by Jury, Talamantes Faces State Prison For Daughter’s Murder
Having convicted Aquelin Talamantes, 29, of Davis of “willfully, deliberately and with premeditation” killing her daughter Tatiana Garcia, 5, a Yolo County Superior Court jury announced June 3 it found Talamantes was sane while drowning her daughter in a bathtub.
The jurors had also convicted Talamantes of “fatally assaulting” Tatiana on the morning of September 26, 2013 in the East Davis home that she had shared with her sister before the murder.
The jury rejected defense counsel’s assertions that Talamantes was insane when she committed the murder. Defense Attorney Sally Fredericksen argued that Talamantes’s “…[mental] condition rendered her incapable of knowing that killing young Tatiana…was morally or legally wrong,” according to a The Davis Enterprise report. Fredericksen argued that Talamantes experienced a “psychotic break” after a brief encounter with Davis police. (Officers had performed a welfare check in the East Davis home but found nothing amiss; Tatiana was playing with her brother). Talamantes “believed the police were going to cut off her daughter’s head; in her twisted mind, she saved Tatiana by drowning her.”
Prosecution witness Dr. Joan Gerbasi, a psychiatrist, testified Talamantes demonstrated symptoms of borderline personality disorder but did not suffer the “acute paranoid psychosis” diagnosed by Dr. Captane Thomson, a defense-hired psychiatrist. Gerbasi testified Talamantes’ actions were the culmination of extreme stress; Talamantes had no job and faced eviction from her sister’s home just prior to the murder. “She was increasingly desperate, which is a setup for her losing it with her child,” Gerbasi said.
Talamantes will be sentenced July 8 in Judge Stephen Mock’s courtroom.
Read More:
The Davis Enterprise: Jury finds Talamantes sane in daughter’s death
Sacramento Bee: Jurors find Talamantes was legally sane when she drowned daughter in Davis home
CrimeVoice: Davis mother accused of Daughter’s Murder Will Stand Trial
