A California woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly fatally stabbing her mother while broadcasting live on Facebook, police said.
Tonantzyn Oris Beltran, 28, was apprehended Monday evening after police responded to multiple reports of a physical fight and stabbing at an apartment complex in the Terra Linda neighborhood of San Rafael, according to the San Rafael Police Department.
Officers arrived to a grisly scene. Beltran’s mother — identified by the Marin County Coroner’s Office as 55-year-old Olivia Lucia Beltran Pacheco — was found suffering from numerous stab wounds on a balcony in the back of an apartment, police said in a news release.
Her daughter was standing next to her with a knife in her hand and her clothes soaked in blood. She was “not readily responsive to officers’ commands and directions” and was taken into custody, police said.
Paramedics rushed Pacheco to a nearby hospital, where she later died.
“Hospital staff made every effort to save the victim’s life but were unable to overcome the extensive life-threatening injuries,” police said. She was pronounced dead 90 minutes later.
Initial calls about the incident came from both witnesses at the scene and people who viewed the stabbing on Facebook Live, where Beltran was broadcasting, police said. Detectives worked with Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to have the video taken down.
Investigators also determined that Beltran had produced content on several social media platforms, including a video taken in the lobby of the Santa Rosa Police Department the day of the stabbing.
“We are working with the Santa Rosa Police Department on this portion of the investigation, and they are reviewing what occurred,” police said.
Pacheco was described by the Marin Independent Journal as a “community activist who assisted immigrants and residents in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood.” Multiple people expressed condolences on Facebook.
“This is a huge loss to the community who constantly benefited from her work on a daily basis,” one person wrote.
“Thank you so much for all the help you gave me and my family,” wrote another.
Beltran remains in custody and is being held without bail, sheriff’s records show. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
“The San Rafael Police Department understands that this is a tragic loss of life and extends its condolences to the victim’s family,” they said.
