Murder conviction confirmed for man who killed mother with homemade spear

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — An appeals court this week upheld the murder charge of a Bakersfield man who admitted to smoking methamphetamine before killing his mother with a homemade spear because he mistakenly believed he needed to defend himself.

The judges of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Donte Issac’s argument that he acted without malicious intent and in inadequate self-defense based on his “purely delusional” beliefs. He will continue to serve a life sentence.

However, the Court of Appeals ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that a previous conviction for negligent discharge of a firearm constituted a sentencing enhancement. That finding was overturned and prosecutors can retry the case.

Issac, 33, admitted to stabbing his mother, Stephanie Mylette Body, to death with a spear he made from a butcher knife and a broom handle on Aug. 24, 2020. He had previously spent hours smoking meth in their apartment on Coventry Drive near the Valley Plaza shopping center.

The court records detail the attack and Issac’s statements to police.

Issac took his then four-year-old daughter to a bathroom before entering a bedroom and stabbing Body twice in the chest – one stab wound to a lung, the other to her heart. Body, 53, grabbed the knife and ripped it from the spear during the attack. She died within minutes.

Afterward, Issac called 911 and reported that he had been taken hostage but had killed his captor – who had taken him from his biological mother when he was a baby. He later told police that he smoked meth and marijuana every day for “energy.”

Police found Body dead in the bedroom. A bloody knife wrapped in cloth and wire was lying nearby. The bloodstained broom handle was in another room.

In 2022, a jury convicted Issac of second-degree murder and child abuse. He was sentenced to 41 years to life in prison.