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Convicted killer attacked by victim’s stepdad during sentencing in California courtroom
A convicted killer was attacked in a California courtroom during his sentencing for stabbing his girlfriend to death nearly four years ago, authorities said this week.
Euren Balbuena, 33, was sentenced to 33 years to life in prison for killing his girlfriend, 31-year-old Zaira Patino-Trejo, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced in a Thursday news release. During the proceedings, a “brief altercation” unfolded as victim impact statements were being read in court, the DA said.
Ventura County District Attorney
The victim’s mother, who was also stabbed twice during the attack, was reading her impact statement when her husband, the victim’s stepfather, lunged at Balbuena, the Ventura County Star reported, citing a spokesman for the DA’s Office. He landed at least one punch before the two men were separated by bailiffs, the spokesman told the outlet.
Balbuena was convicted by a jury on November 21, 2023, of the first-degree murder of Patino-Trejo, battery causing great bodily injury, and assault with a deadly weapon against her mother, the DA said.
Authorities say Balbuena and Patino-Trejo, who had a “history of domestic violence in the relationship,” were arguing in their Simi Valley apartment on Feb. 27, 2020.
Unable to contact her daughter, Patino-Trejo’s mother, Ariadna Avetisyan, went to the couple’s home and saw “signs of more abuse on her daughter’s face,” the DA’s office said.
Balbuena would not let Patino-Trejo out of the apartment and grabbed a kitchen knife, stabbing Avetisyan twice in the head before attacking her daughter, authorities said. Balbuena then stabbed Patino-Trejo more than 30 times with multiple knives, killing her.
The victim’s mother ran bleeding from the apartment and contacted a bystander who called 911, the DA said. Police responded to the scene and arrested Balbuena. Three days after the attack, he was charged with the murder of Patino-Trejo.
Patino-Trejo worked as a client associate for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, the Simi Valley Acorn reported.
“Zaira Patino-Trejo was such a vibrant young woman with a bright future,” Supervising Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Suttner said in a statement Thursday. “We cannot replace her unimaginable loss, but we pursued justice for Zaira and her family. We hope that this sentence brings some small relief to her family, knowing that Euren Balbuena was held accountable for her brutal murder.”
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Teen victim of AI-generated “deepfake pornography” urges Congress to pass “Take It Down Act”
Anna McAdams has always kept a close eye on her 15-year-old daughter Elliston Berry’s life online. So it was hard to come to terms with what happened 15 months ago on the Monday morning after Homecoming in Aledo, Texas.
A classmate took a picture from Elliston’s Instagram, ran it through an artificial intelligence program that appeared to remove her dress and then sent around the digitally altered image on Snapchat.
“She came into our bedroom crying, just going, ‘Mom, you won’t believe what just happened,'” McAdams said.
Last year, there were more than 21,000 deepfake pornographic videos online — up more than 460% over the year prior. The manipulated content is proliferating on the internet as websites make disturbing pitches — like one service that asks, “Have someone to undress?”
“I had PSAT testing and I had volleyball games,” Elliston said. “And the last thing I need to focus and worry about is fake nudes of mine going around the school. Those images were up and floating around Snapchat for nine months.”
In San Francisco, Chief Deputy City Attorney Yvonne Mere was starting to hear stories similar to Elliston’s — which hit home.
“It could have easily been my daughter,” Mere said.
The San Francisco City Attorney’s office is now suing the owners of 16 websites that create “deepfake nudes,” where artificial intelligence is used to turn non-explicit photos of adults and children into pornography.
“This case is not about tech. It’s not about AI. It’s sexual abuse,” Mere said.
These 16 sites had 200 million visits in just the first six months of the year, according to the lawsuit.
City Attorney David Chiu says the 16 sites in the lawsuit are just the start.
“We’re aware of at least 90 of these websites. So this is a large universe and it needs to be stopped,” Chiu said.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is co-sponsoring another angle of attack with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klochubar. The Take It Down Act would require social media companies and websites to remove non-consensual, pornographic images created with AI.
“It puts a legal obligation on any tech platform — you must take it down and take it down immediately,” Cruz said.
The bill passed the Senate this month and is now attached to a larger government funding bill awaiting a House vote.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Snap told CBS News: “We care deeply about the safety and well-being of our community. Sharing nude images, including of minors, whether real or AI-generated, is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines. We have efficient mechanisms for reporting this kind of content, which is why we’re so disheartened to hear stories from families who felt that their concerns went unattended. We have a zero tolerance policy for such content and, as indicated in our latest transparency report, we act quickly to address it once reported.”
Elliston says she’s now focused on the present and is urging Congress to pass the bill.
“I can’t go back and redo what he did, but instead, I can prevent this from happening to other people,” Elliston said.
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