BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man who authorities say created a spear by tying a butcher knife to a broomstick then stabbed his mother to death has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
A jury on Wednesday acquitted Donte Issac of first-degree murder, instead finding him guilty of the lesser charge, as well as a child cruelty charge.
His attorney, Elliott Magnus, said he wanted to thank the jury for their time and for rejecting the first-degree murder charge.
The District Attorney’s office will release a statement Thursday morning, officials said.
Issac, 31, said he spent hours smoking methamphetamine before killing 53-year-old Stephanie Mylette Body in an apartment on Coventry Drive, south of Valley Plaza mall, according to court documents.
Issac’s 4-year-old daughter barricaded herself inside a bedroom while Issac hallucinated and stabbed Body, the documents said.
Afterward, Issac called 911 and reported he had been taken hostage but killed his captor. Officers arrived and found his mother in a bedroom with what appeared to be stab wounds to her chest.
She was declared dead at the scene.
Police found a bloody knife nearby with cloth and wire wrapped around it, the documents said. In another room, officers located a broomstick about 5 feet long with blood on it.
Handcuffed and taken to police headquarters, Issac told detectives he had begun experiencing hallucinations of a man communicating with him through a window. He said he attached the knife to the broomstick and stabbed his mother, then called 911 and told a neighbor.
