By City News Service Jamal Aytes
A man accused of fatally stabbing his mother at their Clairemont Mesa apartment was ordered Monday to stand trial for murder.
Jamal Aytes, 31, is accused in the death of 60-year-old Jacqueline Aytes, who was killed at the apartment they shared on Mesa College Drive.
According to testimony from a preliminary hearing held Monday, the victim sustained 27 stab or incise wounds to both the front and back of her head, torso, arms and legs.
Police were initially called by Jamal Aytes just after 4:30 p.m., Sept. 19, 2024, just hours before police found his mother dead.
Jamal Aytes had told police his mother was 鈥渉aving a mental breakdown鈥 and had threatened him with a butter knife, SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell said. Officers responded to the apartment, but concluded after an evaluation of Jacqueline Aytes that 鈥渟he did not meet the criteria for a mental health hold鈥 and that no crime had occurred. Jamal Aytes was not at the apartment when officers responded.
About three hours later, Jamal Aytes showed up at a hospital with cuts to his hands, Campbell said. Officers then went back to the Aytes鈥 residence and found the victim dead.
Deputy Public Defender Christine Brady argued self-defense couldn鈥檛 be ruled out per her client鈥檚 initial call to police and his injuries.
The attorney argued his hand injuries and the presence of his blood on a knife blade were consistent with taking the knife away from his mother. She also said that when officers responded to the Aytes鈥 apartment, they spoke with Jacqueline Aytes for only a few minutes and did not enter the apartment to assess the situation.
Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich argued that the number of stab wounds and their locations on the victim鈥檚 body 鈥渕ake it clear that it was murder and nothing less.鈥
She said that Aytes鈥 hand injury was most likely sustained when part of the knife broke during the alleged attack, causing his hand to slip and get sliced on the blade.
The prosecutor said no knives or other items that could be used by Jacqueline Aytes as weapons were found in the nearby vicinity of her body. At least one knife believed to have been used in the killing was found discarded in a trash can in the apartment鈥檚 kitchen.
Blood was also found in the apartment鈥檚 bathroom sink and a sink in a nearby laundry room. Nikoletich argued this was indicative of trying to 鈥渃lean up鈥 the scene, while Brady argued it was more likely Aytes was simply tending to his wounds.
Aytes was held to answer on the murder charge and remains in custody without bail.