Arraignment of Westside Murder Suspect Postponed Again

In a homicide that her attorney calls “a tragic case,” Leinani McClintic, 41, stands accused of matricide. Last Wednesday, police were called to Santa Barbara’s Westside for “a person down,” but discovered that Hiilani Mikaitis, 76, was dead of multiple stab wounds. At an arraignment on April 15, Public Defender Jess McHarrie submitted a court request to receive information from the Psychiatric Health Facility, where her client had been moved from a safety cell at the County Jail. The hearing was continued for a third time, this time to Friday, April 17.

The District Attorney’s Office has filed charges of premeditated murder against McClintic, who has yet to plead. Special weapons allegations were made regarding the use of a knife, and special allegations of the serious and violent nature of the crime. Few public details have been released on the case, but McClintic and her mother apparently moved to Santa Barbara from Kapa‘a on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Their Santa Barbara home address includes people who shared their last names.