>
A 16-year-old California girl whose middle name is “Evil” has claimed that she and her boyfriend killed her mother in self-defense — after she was physically assaulted after her father died of a scorpion bite.
Emily ‘Evil’ Reznick claims her mother, Michelle Louise Taylor, 54, would beat her, over-medicate and emotionally manipulate her by “filling her head with lies” according to letters sent to the teen from Juvenile Hall. 17 News.
On July 7, Reznick said her mother tried to kill her and that she and her boyfriend Nikolai Thorn Roach reportedly fought back – authorities found Taylor dead with a stab wound to the neck.
The pair were promptly arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy, and although Reznick had been abused, she said the incident left her with mixed feelings.
“My own (expletive) mother (sic) tried to kill me and I did everything I could to get her off and my boyfriend (sic) was there and saved my life that morning,” she wrote.
“I hate my mother very much, but I loved her because she was my mother. I will never forgive her for what she did to me and what she did to me in the end, and all the lies she did to me.”
At the time of Taylor’s murder, Reznick said the couple were both only 15, meaning that if convicted, they can only be held in custody until they turn 25.
California girl Emily ‘Evil’ Reznick (left), 16, has claimed that she and her boyfriend, Nikolai Thorn Roach (right) killed her mother, Michelle Louise Taylor, 54, in self-defense
Authorities found 54-year-old Taylor (pictured) dead with a stab wound to the neck
Reznick, who reportedly goes by the middle name ‘Evil’, claims Taylor would beat, over-medicate and emotionally manipulate her by ‘filling her head with lies’
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Kinzel told KGET he could not comment on Reznick’s case or the abuse allegations.
According to a close friend of Reznick, Kenneth Eagles, 70, who has also received correspondence from the accused teen, she desperately wanted to be released to be with Roach.
“I want to leave as soon as possible,” she wrote to the 70-year-old, who claims he believes Reznick was abused for years, both physically and verbally.
“I want to be free and with Nik. I need him the most (sic) I need to know how he is – he makes me feel safe, he is my everything.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Ken. I really hate myself for what I’ve done. I cry because I’m here and I feel alone. I didn’t mean to kill her (expletively), that was the last thing I wanted to happen.’
Eagles told 17 News that he met Reznick when she was 12 and that he took on the role of a “grandfather type” in the neighborhood where he knew most of the kids.
He said he remembers seeing Reznick sitting outside alone around midnight as he pulled into the apartment complex where he lived.
When he asked her what she was doing there, Reznick allegedly told him she couldn’t go home because of her mother.
Reznick started quitting regularly after that first incident, Eagles explained that the encounters grew their friendship.
The teenage couple was arrested on suspicion of murder and conspiracy. Reznick said the couple were both only 15, meaning they’d only be up to 25 when convicted. could be kept in custody
According to a close friend of Reznick, Kenneth Eagles (pictured), 70, the teen had sent letters expressing remorse for what had happened — though he believes she did it in self-defense.
Reznick has said she has mixed feelings because she was allegedly abused but still ‘loved her mother’
“She just felt really comfortable and safe there, and that was important to me,” he said.
The 70-year-old said he witnessed bruising and cuts on Reznick, including scars around her neck.
He found out that Reznick’s father had died of what she said was a scorpion bite, and that’s when he first started noticing the bruises.
Reznick allegedly confided in him by saying that her mother beat her because she reminded Taylor of the teen’s father.
“These weren’t bruises,” Eagles said.
“She reminded him of her father, and the mother hated the father,” Eagles said.
The abuse reportedly got worse as she got older, and Reznick apparently fought back once when she was 14.
“She was so proud of herself when she said, ‘My mom tried to hurt me and this time I pushed her back,’ Eagles said.
Taylor’s abuse (left) reportedly got worse as she got older, Reznick (right) apparently fought back once when she was 14
Eagles said he witnessed bruises and cuts on Reznick (right) beatings that began after Reznick’s father (left) died from what she believed was a scorpion bite
Defense attorneys said they were waiting for unedited reports from the coroner’s office, estimated to be ready by November or December at the earliest.
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 reportedly continued and escalated to the point where Taylor Reznick was “boxing” Reznick “like she was going to do a man.”
When Eagles read a report about a woman who had been murdered in Oildale and learned of the arrest the next day, he went “collapsed.”
“But I knew it was self-defense,” he said.
Letters to Eagles are riddled with self-loathing from Reznick, who said she “has hated herself” for what happened despite her allegations of abuse.
She also said she was hated by other teenagers in the Juvenile Hall who call her the “mother killer.”
On Thursday, the hearings scheduled for that day for Reznick and Roach were postponed until the end of November.
Defense attorneys said they were waiting for unedited reports from the coroner’s office, estimated to be ready in November or December at the earliest.
Thursday marked the third time the hearings have been postponed.