On August 28, 2013, Isabella Guzman stabbed her mother, Yun Mi Hoy, to death in their home in Aurora, Colorado. Seven years later, a video of Guzman in court went viral on TikTok, quickly making her one of the internet's phenomena.

Public DomainIsabella Guzman smiles at the camera during the court hearing on September 5, 2013.

Isabella Guzman was only 18 years old when she brutally killed her mother. Her family was in shock. She had experienced behavioral issues during her childhood, but her loved ones described her as "sweet" and "kind-hearted."

Shortly after her arrest, Guzman claimed she was not guilty due to her mental health. Doctors found she had schizophrenia, and a judge decided she could remain at the Colorado Mental Health Institute as long as she did not pose a threat to herself or others.

After staying in the hospital for seven years, Guzman requested to be released in 2020, claiming her schizophrenia was under control. At the same time, footage from the 2013 court hearing resurfaced and began circulating on TikTok — earning her a bizarre fanbase.

This is the chilling story of Isabella Guzman and what happened to her after she killed her mother.

Isabella Guzman's Troubled Childhood

Isabella Guzman began experiencing behavioral issues at a young age. When she was about seven years old, her mother sent her to live with her biological father, Robert Guzman, due to these concerns. Guzman eventually returned to Hoy, but continued to struggle during her teenage years and soon dropped out of high school.

In August 2013, the relationship between Guzman and Yun Mi Hoy quickly deteriorated. According to her stepfather, Ryan Hoy, Guzman became "more threatening and disrespectful" towards her mother, and on Tuesday, August 27, they had a particularly bad argument that ended with Guzman spitting in her mother's face.

According to CBS4 Denver, Hoy received an email from her daughter the next morning that simply said, "You will pay."

Fearing for her safety, Hoy called the police. The police came to the house that afternoon and spoke with Guzman, telling her that her mother could legally kick her out if she did not show her respect.

Hoy also called Guzman's biological father and asked him to talk to her. Robert Guzman came home that evening. He later recalled, "As I sat in the garden looking at the trees and animals, I started to explain to her how important it was to respect parents."

"I thought I was making progress," he continued. However, a few hours later, he would discover that their conversations tragically had no effect.

The Horrific Murder of Yun Mi Hoy

On the night of August 28, 2013, Yun Mi Hoy returned home from work around 9:30 PM. She told her husband she was going upstairs to take a shower — but shortly after, he heard a loud noise and blood-curdling screams.

Public DomainIsabella Guzman left her home after killing her mother. She was found by police the next day.

Ryan Hoy ran upstairs and saw that Isabella Guzman had locked the bathroom door. He tried to force the door open, but Guzman had locked it and was pushing from the other side. When he saw blood seeping under the door, he ran downstairs to call 911.

When Ryan Hoy returned, according to the Huffington Post, he heard his wife say "Jehovah" and then saw Guzman open the door with a bloody knife in her hand. "I didn't hear Guzman say anything, and she didn't talk to me as she walked past... [she] was just looking straight ahead as she passed by me," he added.

He ran into the bathroom and found Yun Mi Hoy on the floor, covered in stab wounds, with a baseball bat beside her. He tried to revive her, but she was already dead. Investigators later found that her throat had been cut and that she had at least 79 stab wounds to her head, neck, and torso.

When the police arrived, Isabella Guzman had already fled the scene. They quickly launched a manhunt and alerted the public that Guzman was "armed and dangerous." The next day, they found her in a nearby parking lot; she was covered in her mother's blood, wearing a pink sports bra and turquoise shorts.

Isabella Guzman's Bizarre Court Day

According to CNN, on the day of the hearing on September 5, 2013, Guzman was dragged out of her cell. When she finally arrived in court, she made strange facial expressions to the camera, smiling and rolling her eyes.

Isabella Guzman pleaded not guilty due to her mental health. A doctor stated that she was suffering from schizophrenia and had experienced delusions for years. She didn't even realize she had stabbed her mother. Instead, Guzman thought she had killed a woman named Cecelia to save the world.

Public DomainIsabella Guzman's stepfather Ryan Hoy ran upstairs when he heard screams from their bathroom and saw the door was locked — and blood pooling underneath it.

George Brauchler, the prosecutor for Colorado's 18th Judicial District, told CBS4 Denver:

"We punish people who make bad decisions; these people could have done something different, knowing better. In this particular case, I think this woman did not see a difference between right and wrong and could not have acted differently; because she was experiencing severe schizophrenia and paranoid delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations."

The judge accepted Guzman's not guilty plea due to her mental health and sent her to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, where it was decided she could stay until she no longer posed a danger to herself.

Isabella Guzman continued her life without knowing she would become an internet celebrity due to her bizarre court appearance.

Guzman's Internet Fame and Where She Is Now

In 2020, various TikTok users began sharing videos from Guzman's 2013 hearing. Some were edited to the famous Ava Max song "Sweet but Psycho." Others attempted to imitate Guzman's bizarre facial expressions in court.

Isabella Guzman quickly gained a fanbase online. Commenters noted how beautiful she was and speculated that she must have had a good reason to kill her mother. A compilation video from the court hearing garnered nearly two million views. People even started creating fan pages for Guzman on Facebook and Instagram.

Public DomainIsabella Guzman was 18 years old when she killed her mother.

Meanwhile, Guzman was still in the mental health facility, undergoing therapy and trying to find the right medications for her schizophrenia. In November 2020, she requested to be released from court, claiming she was no longer a threat to those around her.

At that time, she told CBS4 Denver, "I wasn't myself when I did this, and I have fully recovered since then. I am no longer mentally ill. I do not pose a danger to myself or others."

Guzman also claimed she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of her mother. "I was abused by my parents at home for years," she explained. "My parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, I left that faith when I was 14, and the abuse at home got worse after I left."

In June 2021, Isabella Guzman was granted permission to leave the hospital for therapy sessions. And despite the alleged abusive relationship with her mother, regarding the events of August 28, 2013, she said, "If I could change that or take it back, I would."

To this day, Isabella Guzman remains at the Colorado Mental Health Institute, living with the memory of the horrific act she committed at the age of 18.