Paso Robles woman sentenced to state prison for stabbing a teenager in the neck
A Paso Robles woman was sentenced Wednesday to nearly a decade in state prison after stabbing a teen in a neck last year during an incident her attorney said was related to a then-untreated mental illness.
The 16-year-old victim, who officials have not publicly identified, suffered serious injuries but survived the attack.
Michaela Jean Twyman, 25, was sentenced Wednesday to a total of nine years in state prison after pleading no contest in June to counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Twyman received a sentence of five years for the attempted murder charge, plus four additional years in sentencing enhancements for the infliction of great bodily injury and the use of a deadly weapon, a folding pocket knife.
The judge ruled that a four-year sentence for her conviction of assault with a deadly weapon will run concurrently with her sentence on the attempted murder count.
The convictions will also count as two “strikes” under California’s Three Strikes sentencing law.
Details of a motive behind the stabbing were not released by officials at the time, but the Paso Robles Police Department reported that the stabbing occurred at a trailer owned by Twyman in the Woodland Plaza II parking lot on Niblick Road on Jan. 14, 2020.
The 16-year-old victim fled to a local business after he was stabbed, police said, and received treatment from emergency responders at the scene before being transported in critical but stable condition to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Twyman was located two days later by the police department’s Community Action Team while walking on the railroad tracks just south of San Miguel.
Shortly after being taken into custody, her criminal proceedings were stalled for nearly a year while she was assessed and treated by mental health officials, according to court records.
Her attorney, Paul Greco, said following Wednesday’s hearing that the “sad” case is another example of how a broken mental health system impacts the state’s courts and prisons.
Greco said he did not want to diminish the severity of the crime or the pain the victim suffered, but he said his client was experiencing “severe mental health issues” at the time of the incident, though he could not elaborate due to medical confidentiality laws.
“Now that she’s had those issues addressed in a clinical way, she’s extremely sorry for the pain she’s caused the (victim) in the case,” Greco said.
He said that he’s hopeful Twyman will be able to continue to receive the mental health treatment she needs while in state prison, which he said is under federal mandate to provide appropriate services.
“It’s just unfortunate that someone who didn’t receive the appropriate health care now ends up in prison,” Greco said. “(Untreated mental illness) is not talked about enough and needs to be addressed.”
Twyman will remain in San Luis Obispo County Jail custody until she’s transferred to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials for prison placement.
