California teenager accused of the murder of her mom with the aid of her boyfriend claims self-defense because she has suffered years of physical abuse, which began after scorpion bite killed her dad

Emily Reznick, aka ‘Evil’, 16, of Oildale in Bakersfield, CA, claims that her mother, Michelle Louise Taylor, 54, would beat her, over-medicate and emotionally manipulate her

She alleges during an altercation in July, her mother ‘tried to kill her’ and that she and her boyfriend, Nikolai Thorn Roach, fought back in self-defense

The pair of Reznick and Roach were arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy the day after authorities found Taylor dead with a stab wound to the neck on July 7

At the time of Taylor’s killing, Reznick said the pair had both only been 15, meaning that if convicted they could only be held in custody until they turn 25

Reznick has written letters from Juvenile Hall expressing her regret and mixed emotions

Hearings into the matter have been postponed a third time while defense attorneys wait for unredacted reports from the coroner’s office

The A status hearing Monday for two teens charged in the slaying of a middle-aged woman from Oildale in Bakersfield, California was postponed for the third time since July.
The victim’s 16-year-old daughter girl whose middle name is ‘Evil’ has claimed she and her boyfriend killed her mother in self-defense. Emily Reznick claims her action is fueled by the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her mom abuse after her dad died from a scorpion bite.
Known as Emily ‘Evil’ Reznick, the teen claims that her mother, Michelle Louise Taylor, 54, would beat her, over-medicate and emotionally manipulate her by ‘filling her head with lies’ according to letters the teen sent from Juvenile Hall to 17 News.
Reznick alleges that on July 7, her mom tried to kill her, prompting the fightback with the aid of her boyfriend Nikolai Thorn Roach.

Police found Michelle Taylor dead with a stab wound to the neck at her home in Oildale, Bakersfield on July 7. The next day the pair of Reznick and Roach were promptly arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy, and although Reznick has alleged domestic been abused, she said that the incident left her with mixed feelings.
‘My own (expletive) mom try (sic) to kill me and I did all I could to get her off and my BF (sic) was there and saved my life that morning,’ she wrote.
‘I hate my mom a lot but loved her cuz (sic) she was my mom. I will never ever forgive her for what she has put me through and did to me at the end and all the lies she put me through too.’
At the time of Taylor’s killing, Reznick said the pair had both only been 15, meaning that if convicted they could only be held in custody until they turn 25.

According to close friend of Reznick, Kenneth Eagles, 70, who has also received correspondence from the accused teen, she was desperate to be released to be with Roach.
‘I want to be out as soon as I can,’ she wrote to Eagles who claims that he believes Reznick had suffered years of abuse, both physical and verbal.
‘I want to be free and with Nik. I need him the most tbh (sic) I need to know how he’s doing – he makes me feel safe, he’s my everything.
‘Not going to lie to you Ken I hate myself a lot for what I did I cry about being here and I feel alone. I did not mean to (expletive) kill her that was like the last thing I wanted to happen.’
Eagles told 17 News that he had met Reznick when she was 12 and he took on the role of a ‘grandfather type’ in the neighborhood where he knew most of the kids.
He said that he recalls seeing Reznick at around midnight sitting outside by herself as he drove into the apartment complex where he lived.
When he questioned her about what she was doing there, Reznick had allegedly told him that she couldn’t go home because of her mother.
Reznick began stopping over regularly after that first incident, Eagles explaining that the encounters allowed their friendship to grow.

According to an elderly neighbor of the family Kenneth Eagles, 70, who became a close friend and confidant of Reznick, the teen had been sending letters remorseful for what had happened.
Eagles expressed his belief that her action is self-defense, adding that she has said that she has mixed feelings about the fatal stabbing, because she has alleged abused, still ‘loved her mother.’
‘She just felt very comfortable over there and safe, and that was important to me,’ Eagles said.

Eagles recalls seeing bruises and cuts on Reznick including marks around her neck, which he claims he first started to noticing about the same time he found out that Reznick’s father had died from what she said was a scorpion bite.
Reznick allegedly confided in him that her mother beat her because she reminded the mother of the teen’s dad.
‘These weren’t little bruises,’ Eagles said.
‘She reminded him of her father, and the mom hated the father,’ Eagles said.
The abuse allegedly got worse as she got older, Reznick apparently fighting back once when she was 14.
‘She was so proud of herself when she said, ‘My mom tried to hurt me bad and I pushed her back this time,” said Eagles.

Reznick told him she knocked Taylor down, but Taylor just laughed and threatened to call the police and report her for abusing a senior.
Taylor and Reznick moved to Oildale, where the abuse allegedly continued, escalating to the point where Taylor was ‘boxing’ Reznick ‘like she would a man.’
When Eagles read a report about a woman killed in Oildale and hearing of the arrest the next day it caused him to ‘break down.’
‘But I knew it was self-defense,’ he said.

Letters to Eagles are riddled with self-hate from Reznick who said she ‘hates herself’ for what happened despite her claims of abuse.
She also said she was hated by other teens in Juvenile Hall who refer to her as ‘mom’ killer.
On Thursday, readiness hearings scheduled for that day were postponed for Reznick and Roach to late November.
Defense attorneys said they were waiting for unredacted reports from the coroner’s office which have been estimated to be ready by November at the earliest or December.
Thursday marked the third time the hearings have been postponed.