Fresno PD: Suspect's daughter, 9, witnesses murder of neighbor

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno police say one of the few witnesses to a murder was only 9 years old. But her vivid account of what happened has her mother answering to charges of stabbing a neighbor to death.

Mary Lara died in September when investigators say she confronted a woman walking with her pit bull and two children. A judge decided Thursday there is enough evidence to hold Laquandra Kinchen Ligons to answer for the murder.

Police say the 9-year-old and her little brother were with their mom and saw the entire murder. The child told detectives the victim screamed and seemed like she was suffering as she died. For the first time Thursday, detectives revealed it was the victim who hit the suspect's dog with a metal pole, starting the deadly fight.

Investigators say cats and a neighbor's dog were what Lara was trying to protect from a pit bull she perceived was a threat. According to witnesses, and surveillance video, Lara made the first move when Ligons walked by with her two kids and her dog on a leash.

"Ms. Lara said, told this lady if the dog gets loose, that she would kill it. She said that she has killed a couple of dogs in the past for trying to attack her cats, because she has a lot of cats there," said Fresno Police Det. Adrian Alvarez.

Witnesses said the dog wasn't bothering the cats, when Lara hit it with a metal rod. Moments later, the two were in a heated fight. Police say that's when Ligons pulled a knife out and stabbed Lara, killing her.

Four surveillance cameras across the street captured the deadly confrontation. The suspect's daughter also didn't hold back during an interview with investigators.

"The little girl said I saw my mother stab the lady twice on her right side, once in the stomach and then she said I saw my mom go up to her neck and stab her in the throat two times," said Det. Alvarez.

After the fight, police say Ligons called her husband, Thurman, to pick her up. But, a neighbor who noticed the fight chased her down the street and demanded she stay. But detectives say when Thurman pulled up he knocked the witness out and drove away.

Investigators say Ligons was covered in blood and went home and cleaned up, while her husband burned her clothes in the backyard.

Defense attorneys questioned officers mostly about injuries they saw on Laquandra Ligons the night she was interviewed. One of them was a bruise on her arm that police say could have been a bite mark from the victim.