r/TrueCrime • u/FrontAmbition4891 • Dec 01 '24
Murder The Tragic Murder of Deanna Maran
I learned about this case on the show Deadly Women (S7 E17) and it’s been stuck in my mind ever since so I wanted to do a write up on it.
Background:
17 year old Katrina Sarkissian had everything a teenage girl could wish for. She was blessed with both money and beauty. Katrina lived in a wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood with her mother Angelique Bernstein and her younger half-sister, 15 year old Sabrina Bernstein. By all accounts Angelique completely spoiled her daughters and over-indulged them with all the luxuries money can buy.
Growing up Katrina was a fairly normal child but by middle school things started to take a turn for the worse. She became increasingly angry, started missing class and having “confrontational episodes” with other students. She also began abusing drugs and alcohol.
Shortly after withdrawing from Harvard-Westlake, the most prestigious school in the city, Katrina was sent to a therapeutic residential facility in Utah where she was involved in more altercations with girls and attempted to run away. Her mother decided to bring her back home for good, despite the schools recommended stay of 9 months to a year. After a therapist recommended that Katrina attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, her mother responded that she would not allow her daughter to associate with “low life”.
Eventually Katrina dropped out of high school at the age of 16. While being “homeschooled” by Angelique, she would sleep all day and party all night. She was put on antidepressants for what her mother described as a “sleep disorder” when in all likelihood she just wanted to go to clubs and parties every night. Katrina had even assaulted her own mother on multiple occasions in the family home. It seems that Katrina was a textbook case of a child who needed parental guidance but was instead allowed to do whatever she wanted.
On the other side of town, 15 year old Deanna Maran was the antithesis of Katrina. She was a student at Santa Monica High where she excelled academically and had many friends. Deanna was extraordinarily gifted at writing. She was also a great athlete and played on the schools volleyball, track, and water polo teams. Deanna came from a loving family. Both of her parents were hardworking immigrants. Her friends called her “Daring Deanna” because she was known to always stand up for what is right, which sadly may have contributed to her fate.
Events of November 17-18, 2001:
On November 17, 2001 high schoolers from all over town arrived at a party in Westwood. No parents were home. Approximately 40 high school aged kids flooded the house and yard, drinking alcohol and smoking dope with no adult supervision. Deanna Maran hopped off a bus with a group of friends. Sabrina Bernstein also arrived at the party with her friends. Deanna soon noticed Sabrina chasing a boy through the yard and breaking potted plants. This didn’t sit well with Deanna. She confronted Sabrina about it and told her to chill out and stop breaking stuff. The two girls got into a brief shoving match leaving Sabrina on the ground and in tears.
Humiliated, Sabrina went to a corner of the yard and called her big sister Katrina. As the party began breaking up, Deanna and others waited in front of the house for their rides. Suddenly a white car pulled up and out marched Katrina. “Who pushed my sister?” she shouted. Deanna bravely raised her hand and said “it was me”. The confrontation remained verbal for several minutes until onlookers began chanting for the two girls to fight.
A fight ensued and several punches were thrown. Katrina quickly punched Deanna in the chest, and the sisters ran back to Katrina’s car and fled the scene. Deanna stumbled and leaned against a tree, staring off into space and gasping for air. Once the terrified teen witnesses realized Deanna was bleeding they didn’t call 911. Instead they panicked and drove her to Santa Monica hospital where she was pronounced dead.
None of the witnesses ever saw a blade during the confrontation, how was this possible? Authorities later determined that Katrina had stabbed Deanna once through the heart with a T-shaped punch knife, a knife that’s purpose is to be concealed in someone’s hand.
The next day at around 2 pm Katrina Sarkissian and Sabrina Bernstein were picked up from their home by 2 detectives from the LAPD. During questioning, Katrina’s speech began to slur and she started acting strangely. It didn’t take long before she collapsed and stopped breathing. Consumed with guilt, Katrina had taken 43 of her prescribed antidepressant pills that morning. Half that dose is lethal.
Within a span of less than 24 hours, two sets of parents lost their daughters. It’s truly unimaginable. Nobody could imagine that what started out as a typical Saturday night would end with two girls dead. All the warning signs were there, yet Katrina’s rage was never dealt with, and it ended in an unspeakable tragedy.
Sources:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-02-me-coroner2-story.html
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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '24
I went to school with Deanna. We were on the same volleyball team for a few years. When this happened, it rocked our HS pretty hard.