Calif. mom gets 25 years to life for fatally stabbing 4-year-old daughter during psychotic episode
07/10/2026 3:15 pm PDT
STANISLAUS COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) -- A California mother has been sentenced for the fatal stabbing of her 4-year-old daughter and attempted murder of her 10-year-old son in 2023.
On Oct. 15, 2023, police arrived at a home after receiving a report of an assault. The father of a 4-year-old girl, Fatima Sana Akram, and a 10-year-old boy whose name has not been released, dialed 911. When officers arrived, they found Akram deceased from stab wounds. The boy was unharmed.
A police investigation found that Mina Nazari had attacked the children, fatally stabbing Akram and attempting to kill her son. The charges against Nazari were announced on Oct. 17, 2023.
The Modesto Bee reports that in March, Nazari was convicted of first-degree murder, child abuse causing death, attempted premeditated murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and child endangerment. She was found legally sane at the time of the attack during a later phase of the trial after jurors rejected the sanity defense.
Nazari’s defense said she was schizophrenic and experiencing hallucinations, and she believed killing her children would save their souls, per the Modesto Bee. She had reportedly stopped taking her prescribed medication before attacking her children.
However, prosecutors found she knew the attacks were wrong and her conduct and statements afterward reflected that.
Nazari was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison on July 7, according to the Modesto Bee. Following the guilty verdict in March, Nazari’s defense filed motions to challenge evidence and overturn the verdict. Judge Ruben Villalobos rejected those motions.
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