Isabella Guzman, accused of fatally stabbing her mother 79 times in Aurora, sent her an e-mail the day before that said, “You will pay,” according to an arrest affidavit filed Friday.
Guzman and her mother often fought, but the teenager had become “more threatening and disrespectful” toward Yun-Mi Hoy in recent days, her stepfather, Ryan Hoy, told authorities. Her mother had grown so fearful that she called Aurora police, who on Wednesday afternoon warned Guzman that her mother could kick her out of their home if she did not shape up.
Hours later, officers returned to the home in the 2600 block of South Lima Street to find Yun-Mi Hoy dead in an upstairs bathroom, the affidavit said.
Guzman, 18, who was arrested Thursday after a 16-hour manhunt, appeared Friday before Arapahoe County Judge Stephen F. Collins, who ordered her to remain jailed without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder. She sat silently in an orange jumpsuit, a bandage on her right wrist.
Yun-Mi Hoy came home from work about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and took a shower, Ryan Hoy told police. Soon after, he heard a “thumping” and his wife calling his name. Guzman was pushing up against the bathroom door keeping him from opening it, according to the affidavit.
He went downstairs to call the police, and when he returned he said he saw Guzman standing in the bathroom doorway holding a knife, and his wife on the floor, covered in blood. There was a baseball bat beneath her.
“He never heard Guzman say anything, and she didn’t speak to him as she exited the bathroom,” the affidavit says. “Guzman was just staring straight ahead when she walked past him.”
Homicide detectives offered no clues about a motive, but Ryan Hoy told them the teenager had been a challenge. His wife had sent Guzman to live with her biological father when she was about 7 because her behavior had become so difficult.
But Guzman’s aunt, Melanie Guzman, said she saw a typical teenager when she visited the family a few months ago. Guzman could get angry, but violence seemed outside her character. Her mother spoiled her, she said.
She said she feels aspects of the police investigation remain undone and “there’s something more to it.”
“Her demeanor is pretty sweet. She’s very coquette. I can see her yelling, screaming and storming off and locking herself in her room and turning on her iPod,” Guzman said. “But not being violent like that.”
