EVANSTON — A Utah woman has been given an unusual sentence after being found guilty of the June 2022 stabbings of Evanston residents David Perez and Pablo Escalante.

Esmeralda Patino, 20, of Ogden, Utah, was sentenced Thursday, June 8.

A Third District Court affidavit by Evanston Police Department detective Scott Faddis states that officers responded to a quinceanera at the Evanston Machine Shop at 12:09 a.m. on June 26 of last year, reportedly due to calls concerning the stabbing of a male.

Sgt. Chad Liechty noticed a group of people running away from him, toward the Machine Shop. Another group had gathered in the parking lot around Escalante, who was lying on the asphalt near the Machine Shop entrance with blood on his midsection and on the ground beneath him. An ambulance arrived shortly thereafter.

Raul Saavedra reportedly told Liechty of a second victim, who he said had run toward the Machine Shop “with his guts hanging out.” Liechty was unable to find this victim. Officer Ryan Nelsen reportedly found Perez sitting in an unknown vehicle, applying pressure to stab wounds on his side. Liechty also noticed a stab wound on Perez’s arm. An ambulance quickly arrived to transport Perez to Evanston Regional Hospital.

Saavedra told Liechty the fight had begun near an L-shaped fence at the entrance of the Machine Shop, where several people were fighting with an unidentified suspect, identified as a “big male wearing a pink shirt,” who broke a beer bottle before the fight progressed toward the parking lot. Another suspect, later identified as Patino, then stabbed Escalante and Perez.

Officer James Schmidt reported to the scene, and was assigned to Evanston Regional Hospital, where the victims were receiving treatment for their wounds. While en route, Schmidt was informed that Perez was entering a LifeFlight helicopter on the way to Salt Lake City. By the time Schmidt arrived, Perez was airborne, and Escalante was in surgery.

Later that day, Schmidt and Faddis traveled to Salt Lake City in order to speak with Perez and Escalante. Perez told the officers a female had stabbed him. When presented with video footage, he identified a woman wearing a black shirt as the perpetrator. Another person involved in the fight, a male wearing a pink shirt and black undershirt, was also identified.

The two victims were stabbed a collective nine times.

Sgt. Shawn Stahl sent photos of the two suspects to the Utah Department of Public Safety Statewide Information and Analysis Center, hoping to identify the suspects with facial recognition software. The female photo came back as a match to Patino, and the male was identified as Isaac Ayala.

Ayala pleaded no contest to breach of peace earlier this month. He was sentenced to 180 days in the Uinta County Detention Center, which was suspended. He owes $320 in fines, the entirety of which is due by Sept. 1.

After finding Patino and Ayala on Facebook, officers discovered the two are siblings. On June 27, 2022, Anahi Escalante informed Faddis that she had a name for the stabbing suspect. In a text message, she identified the stabber as Patino.

On June 28, 2022, officers responded to the EPD training room, where victim advocate Vanessa Weekly and Anahi Escalante had gathered. Anahi Escalante said she knew the family throwing the quinceanera had asked relatives to wear pink, and she had found a picture of Ayala wearing a pink shirt. She then searched for Facebook relations, eventually locating Ayala, then Patino.

Her June 9 sentencing was an emotional affair, featuring statements from Patino, her family and those of Perez and Escalante.

Patino thanked District Judge James Kaste for the opportunity to speak. She said she was unsure whether the amnesia she reported experiencing during the crime was a blessing or a curse. She told the court the sight of her brother, her childhood protector, defenseless against a group of boys at last June’s event, led her to do something she never would have considered otherwise.

Ayala expressed his sympathy for the victims and their families.“We have mourned, your honor.”

He said he has lost many relatives, and that his sister is not a bad person. She is the one, he said, who holds their family together. “Just like God has given these boys a second chance,” he asked Kaste to do the same for his sister. Patino’s aunt and cousin also spoke in her defense.

Teresa Escalante, Pablo’s aunt, spoke on behalf of her family. She said they were tight-knit. She asked the judge for a just sentence “for someone who nearly ended a beautiful life.”

“This will affect these two mothers for the rest of their lives,” Kaste said.

He said that, while this may have been a one-off incident, “there needs to be a consequence, and it needs to be severe.” He gave a sentence of five to eight years for each of the four counts, split and suspended. Each pair of counts are concurrent, and the two groups together are consecutive, meaning Patino would serve 10-16 years in total.

Kaste, however, had a more creative idea. Under the terms of the sentence suspension, Patino will first spend a year in the Uinta County Detention Center. She will be required to earn a high school diploma or equivalency within the following month. She must then enroll full-time in a four-year university before fall of 2024.

She must complete her bachelor’s degree in four years. If she does not enroll, drops out or fails, she will serve the prison sentence. The degree will be pursued at her own expense. To pay restitution fees, Patino must work 16 hours per week while enrolled at a university. She must also perform 16 hours of community service each month, undergo a psychiatric evaluation and take an anger management class.

For this six-year period of rehabilitation, Patino will be under probation.

“You’re 20 years old and dumb as dumb can be,” Kaste told her, but argued that her stupidity should not cost her the rest of her life.