AUBURN — A former Lewiston woman convicted of manslaughter in the stabbing death of her boyfriend is expected to be in court next week on a charge of violating terms of her probation.
Tarina D. Botelho, 44, was sentenced on the 2005 manslaughter conviction to 15 years in prison with five years suspended, plus six years of probation.
In a February motion for probation revocation, her probation officer wrote that Botelho had violated her probation by failing to give a valid residential address to the court and to the probation office. She also failed to report to probation after she was released from jail from a prior probation violation. Her probation officer wrote that she also had neglected to get permission to change her residential address and didn’t live at the address on file at the office, which her probation officer had visited in an effort to conduct a home check.
Botelho started serving probation in March 2013 when she was released from prison. She had lived in Biddeford until 2016, according to court records. She moved to Auburn and had been living in a shelter for battered women.
She was given permission to move three times and had been living on Blake Street in Lewiston with her two daughters. She’s had a history of violating probation by not getting permission to change her address and notifying officials, according to court records. A warrant was issued when authorities were unable to locate her at her last known address.
Botello was initially charged in 2004 with murder, but through plea negotiations was convicted of manslaughter in the stabbing death of her boyfriend, Jamilah Shabazz, 32, in their Knox Street apartment while her six children were there.
She told police the stabbing had been self-defense after initially denying any involvement.
The couple had had a history of domestic violence, police said. Shabazz had a history of domestic violence assaults, according to court records.
Tarina Botelho