SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 36-year-old man who fatally stabbed his mother and seriously wounded his father in San Juan Capistrano was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a judge Thursday.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary Paer found Yihong Peng was not guilty by reason of insanity of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a count of carjacking, possession of deadly weapon by a prisoner and attempted criminal threats with intent to terrorize, according to court records.
Peng could have faced up to 44 years to life in prison if convicted of killing his 59-year-old mother, Wei Ping Shen, and wounding his father, 59-year-old Guojon, on March 30, 2018.
A mental health sanity commitment hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 19. He is expected to be sent to a mental health facility indefinitely until his sanity is restored.
The defendant’s brother, Yilang Peng, is a “League of Legends” star known as “Doublelift” in online gaming circles.
Yilang Peng issued a statement after his brother’s arrest, saying he was “still processing this news and joining up with my dad and little brother to make sure they’re OK.”
Yihong Peng was “behaving oddly” at a gym in San Juan Capistrano prompting sheriff’s deputies to give the defendant a ride home, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Later in the day, the butcher-knife wielding defendant got into an argument with his mother and father and chased them out of their home before stabbing the victims multiple times, then attempted to stab another man nearby in a parked vehicle, prosecutors said. He was also accused of attempting to carjack another bystander, who was cut several times as he resisted.
The defendant’s father was taken to an area hospital in critical condition but survived.
Peng’s attorney, Cameron Talley, said three out of four doctors who examined him concluded he was insane due to schizophrenia.
When Peng had a “meltdown”' in the gym earlier in the day the police decided not to have him committed to a hospital, Talley said.
Then “he had another episode and killed his mother” when he got home, Talley said.
Peng thought his “mother would end the world” and was “killing his girlfriend,” Talley said.
“Judge Paer did the right thing and found overwhelming evidence he was not guilty by reason of insanity,” Talley said. “Hats off to Judge Paer for having the guts to make the right finding and do the right thing.”
