A 60-year-old Berkeley woman was stabbed and killed Sunday afternoon in her University Avenue apartment, and her 28-year old daughter who reportedly has mental health issues is in custody on murder charges.
KTVU brings us the sad news of a 60-year-old Berkeley mother Heather Riemer who was stabbed and killed in her apartment Sunday afternoon, allegedly by her 23-year old daughter Gabriella Riemer, who is one of her three children. According to friends and co-workers of the deceased that KTVU spoke with, the daughter Gabriella was said to have suffered from severe mental health issues, and her episodes were sometimes violent.
"Over many years, I’ve known, seen bruises and scars, and all that, you know,” longtime friend Kenneth Kozi Arrington told KTVU. “But that’s her daughter. We love our kids."
Berkeleyside has the additional information that the younger daughter Reimer called 911 herself to report the stabbing at about 2:15 pm Sunday, and Berkeley Fire Department personnel declared the mother dead at the scene from “multiple fatal stab wounds” when they arrived. The daughter was taken into police custody.
According to a Berkeleyside review of police records, the younger Reimer claimed that “she did not remember much of what had occurred that day.” But chillingly, those records add that “Detectives played audio where Gabriella told BPD dispatchers that she had stabbed her mother in self-defense. Gabriella laughed hysterically during the playing of this recording.”
Gabriella Riemer was booked into Alameda County Jail at 10:45 pm Sunday night on first degree murder charges, and is being held without bail. She’s scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning.
The case is tragically reminiscent of a January incident where a Marin County woman allegedly stabbed her own mother, also during an apparent mental health episode. Though in that case, the suspect streamed the stabbing on Facebook Live.
If you or someone you love is in distress, you can get free and confidential support 24/7 at the National Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787.
Related: Marin Woman Allegedly Kills Mother, Broadcasts Murder on Facebook Live [SFist]
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