Teen slasher seems headed for CYA

OAKLAND -- The Alameda County Probation Department has recommended that a teenager convicted of slashing the throat of a Berkeley woman be sent to the California Youth Authority instead of a locked mental health treatment facility, a county official said Tuesday.

Marilyn Webster, 17, appeared in Alameda County Juvenile Court again Tuesday, but sentencing for the Oakland girl was postponed for a third time since she admitted responsibility for the crime last month.

Eight locked mental health facilities for juveniles -- two in California and six out of state -- have refused to take the teen, partially because her IQ has tested lower than 70.

Assistant Alameda County District Attorney Walter Jackson said two facilities still are being considered, but if they don't accept her, the girl probably will go to the Youth Authority.

Webster is to return to court Nov. 3 to hear her fate.

"I'm expecting that (this case) will be officially over by Nov. 3," Jackson said.

Both Jackson and the public defender, Cliff Blakely, have said they don't want her sent to Youth Authority because she won't get the treatment she needs. The teenager suffers from severe psychosis and has been in and out of foster care, group homes and juvenile hall most of her life, Blakely said.

The girl has admitted to the unprovoked throat slashing of a 75- year-old Berkeley hills woman at sunset March 16. The woman was walking home with her husband when the girl attacked her with a kitchen knife, police said. The victim recovered from her wounds.

Meanwhile, Hamaseh Kianfar, a former mental health worker charged as an accessory to attempted murder, remains free on bail. Police said Kianfar, 30, drove Webster away from the scene and then lied to police about her involvement in the slashing. Kianfar has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is slated for a pretrial hearing Oct. 27.

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