BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A 13-year-old boy on Wednesday testified to witnessing the sudden, brutal attack that took his mother’s life in May of last year.

The boy said his stepfather, Rafael Estrada, showed up at a family gathering and went to a back bedroom where his mother was lying down.

Following closely behind, the boy testified he witnessed a brief verbal interaction between them before Estrada “laid on top of her and slit her throat.”

17 News live blogged his testimony, which came on the second day of Estrada’s trial on charges including first-degree murder.

There’s no dispute Estrada, 45, stabbed his estranged wife in the neck after crashing the family gathering on Monterey Street on May 28 of last year. Taylor Estrada bled out and died at the scene.

But the defense has argued Estrada should be convicted of second-degree rather than first-degree murder, saying the killing wasn’t premeditated. Deputy Public Defender Jacob Evans also questioned some of the lesser charges.

Prosecutor Leanne Wilder has said Taylor Estrada and her children moved to her father’s home in Bakersfield to escape her husband’s abusive behavior — to no avail.

Rafael Estrada had been drinking when he showed up at the home with a pocketknife and box cutter in his pockets, the prosecutor said, and used the knife to stab Taylor Estrada in the neck after an argument about taking his son home.

Taylor Estrada had four children, one of whom she had with Rafael Estrada.

Rafael Estrada fled the home and led deputies on a chase in a pickup that ended when he pulled into a church parking lot and was taken into custody through force that included using a K-9.

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