The Monterey County Herald
MERCED, Calif. — A former San Jose reserve police officer remained in custody after being charged in the killing of her 65-year-old mother.
Denise Lai was due back in court Wednesday, after her arraignment on charges of murder and endangering an elderly person was postponed Friday, said Harold Nutt, Merced County’s chief assistant district attorney.
The 47-year-old Lai is accused of killing her mother, Carolyn Ninomiya, in her Los Banos home earlier this month.
Los Banos police say they found Ninomiya strangled inside her home on Aug. 3. Officers had gone to the home after Lai was found earlier in the day in a parking lot suffering from what police described as self-inflicted stab wounds.
Lai told police she stabbed herself and wanted to die, according to Los Banos police Cmdr. Rey Reyna. She was taken to a local hospital, then airlifted to Modesto Memorial Hospital.
When investigators interviewed her, she admitted to killing her mother before attempting to commit suicide, according to police.
Lai, a resident of San Jose, served as a volunteer reserve officer in San Jose from April 29, 1993, through March 20, 2008, according to officer Jose Garcia, a San Jose police spokesman.
Lai was being held in Merced County’s main jail in lieu of $1 million bail. A jail official did not know if she had retained an attorney.
Los Banos is about 85 miles southeast of San Jose.
Copyright 2010 The Monterey County Herald