An Indiana woman who fatally stabbed her boyfriend last year with a metal comb faces at least 45 years behind bars after being convicted of the murder Thursday.
Sierra M. Hernandez, 27, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was convicted of one count of murder after an hour of deliberation by an Allen County jury.
Trial testimony revealed that in May 2021, Hernandez stabbed her boyfriend, 25-year-old Roderick Patterson to death with the sharp metal end of a rattail comb at her Fort Wayne home.
Hernandez fatally stabbed Patterson with the rattail comb during an intense fight, according to the opening statements from Allen County deputy prosecutor Tesa Helge.
Prosecutors said the couple had a turbulent relationship that included Hernandez punching Patterson, evidence of him throwing rocks through her windows and exchanges of threatening texts.
Nikos Nakos, the defense attorney, said that the prosecution’s evidence was all circumstantial, arguing that Hernandez couldn’t have stabbed Patterson since she was seven months pregnant at the time of his death, according to the Journal Gazette.
Nakos also argued that due to her long fingernails, Hernandez couldn’t have gripped the comb hard enough to provide the force necessary to stab Patterson.
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Hernandez’s sentencing is scheduled for December 16. She faces between 45 and 65 years behind bars for the murder of Patterson.