MANITOWOC – Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge Jerilyn Dietz has once again ruled 49-year-old Blanca R. Perez-Hernandez not competent to stand trial for charges alleging she stabbed two people with a kitchen knife in January.
Perez-Hernandez was ordered to continue treatment and was scheduled for another competency hearing Feb. 4. It will be her fifth competency hearing in this case.
Perez-Hernandez was arrested Jan. 7. According to the arrest record, she claimed she was attacked by two people with a shovel and she stabbed them in self-defense.
However, nearby surveillance cameras reportedly showed Perez-Hernandez instigated the assault.
The two accusers told police they saw her trying to take the license plates off their cars and, when they confronted her, she demanded they give her the paperwork for the vehicles.
During the argument, Perez-Hernandez produced a large kitchen knife and held the knife to one accuser’s chest near the throat. The other accuser called 911 to request police service, but while they were on the phone, the woman attacked both people, causing injuries to both.
She was arrested shortly after the incident at her nearby home, the arrest record said. She is still in custody at the Manitowoc County Jail on a $7,500 bond.
The record also said Perez-Hernandez told police she worships Santa Muerte, the saint of death, who gifted her all the vehicles in the world, including those in the trailer park where she resided.
Perez-Hernandez was charged with two counts of first-degree reckless injury with use of a weapon, a Class D felony. If convicted, she could face up to 25 years in state prison and up to $100,000 in fines.
Perez-Hernandez is represented in her case by attorney Ann Larson. Assistant District Attorney Jordan Feest is prosecuting the case.
Alisa M. Schafer is a reporter for the Herald Times Reporter in Manitowoc. She can be reached by email at aschafer@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Judge rules Manitowoc ‘Santa Muerte’ stabbings suspect not competent in latest series of hearings
Reporting by Alisa M. Schafer, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter / Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
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