A 36-year-old Santa Ana woman was sentenced last week to 16 years to life for stabbing her husband to death as he lay in bed the morning of his birthday in 2021, according to court records.

Michelle Gutierrez was convicted in April by an Orange County Superior Court jury of second-degree murder.

Gutierrez’s public defender said mental-health issues related to medication Gutierrez had been taking to help deal with seizures led her to kill her husband, while prosecutors said the stabbing followed a fight the couple had the previous night.

On Jan. 21, 2021, police arrived at the home in the 1000 block of West Bishop Street to find an “incredibly graphic scene” with “blood everywhere,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Susan Price said.

Gutierrez was also found with injuries and told firs

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