Victoria Mendoza is currently serving her 16-to-life prison term at the Utah State Prison in the Timpanogos Women’s Facility in Draper, Utah, with possible parole in 2039 for the murder of her girlfriend, Tawnee Baird, in 2014.
Victoria became infamous for the murder of her girlfriend of five years in 2014. The murder made headlines and was detailed in season six of Web of Lies: Fatal Facade which aired on Investigation Discovery. All to be known about this woman has been detailed below.
Where is Victoria Mendoza From?
Victoria Mendoza is a citizen of the United States of America though the exact part of the country where she is from is not known. Her birth details have also not been revealed but judging by her age at the time she murdered her friend, she is about 32 years old now.
Despite being infamous, a lot of information about her is not known. This includes the names of her parents, the number of siblings she has, her ethnicity, education, and what she did for a living before murdered her girlfriend. Though where and how she spent her childhood is also unknown, it is believed that she had a turbulent upbringing as she was once placed in a behavioral health treatment facility.
Victoria Became Infamous After She Murdered Her Girlfriend Tawnee Baird
Victoria Mendoza reportedly met Tawnee Baird in a behavioral treatment center and they became friends afterward. Victoria also became close to Tawnee’s family, which made Tawnee’s father, Casey Baird, consider her a daughter. He later took her in and she began living with them after her mother died. The duo, who were friends for five years, lived in Holladay. The deceased attended Salt Lake Community College and also worked as an account assistant.
However, their relationship, which started on a rather good note, ended violently. It was revealed that on the day that Victoria killed Tawnee, Tawnee’s best friend named Lacey visited them to hang out with some friends. However, they couldn’t go out with Lacey because Victoria became upset and went into the bathroom. Tawnee later drove her friend home and returned home so that she could hang out with Victoria.
Victoria Mendoza and Tawnee Baird, who were in a violent friendship, reportedly visited their friends in Ogden in 2014. On their way back, they got into a heated argument, which made them pull over at a parking lot. At the parking lot, Victoria took out a 4-inch folding knife and stabbed her friend multiple times.
Covered in blood, she called her sister, Spencer, after the incident, asking her to come to the church that they attended when they were still children. Spencer contacted 911, who moved to the scene to see Victoria Mendoza sitting on the driver’s seat covered in blood and Twanee sitting on the passenger’s seat bleeding.
Tawnee was pronounced dead on their arrival, and her corpse was moved to the hospital, where an autopsy was carried out, confirming that she had been stabbed 46 times. Meanwhile, the culprit was moved to the Weber County jail, where she was detained without bail.
The murder was reportedly carried out because the culprit was jealous of the deceased. Tawnee was revealed to be high-spirited, cheerful, flirty, and outgoing, which Victoria saw as a threat. They reportedly had an argument over a man and were high on marijuana, according to toxicological results. As a result, they got into a fight which made Victoria stab her multiple times.
Further Investigations After The Murder Victoria Mendoza Girlfriend
After the whole incident, further investigations were done to determine if their relationship was toxic. It was revealed that they were often involved in a fight, which was evidenced by the series of injuries that Tawnee had during her lifetime.
Casey Baird, Tawnee’s father, further revealed that his daughter once had a broken tooth and a series of injuries on her face and body. When he asked how she got the injury, Victoria and Tawnee replied that they were involved in a club fight in Ogden. The bereaved father has shared his regrets for not digging deeper into the tooth injury.
He further urged the public to always look out for their loved ones who are in toxic relationships and help them out. Tawnee’s father also made it known to Victoria that she should not try an insanity plea. Casey added that she should not be given a death sentence, but rather spend all her life in prison and rot.
Further revelations were made by Victoria and Tawnee’s friends. They stated that the duo was always involved in messy fights and that Tawnee feared Victoria and could not speak up while going through the series of abuses in her life.
How Many Years Did Victoria Mendoza Get?
Victoria Mendoza’s trial began in David County shortly after the murder, after a graphical hearing that came to an end with the culprit threatening to commit suicide after she pleaded not guilty. This made the judge, Joseph Bean, order her to stand trial on a murder charge.
Her defense lawyer, Michael Studebaker, requested that the trial be held in another county since it happened interstate. However, the judge disagreed, and Michael threatened to involve the federal court.
After shards of evidence were presented in court, Victoria Mendoza’s defense lawyer asked her to plead guilty, which she did. She was further charged with first-degree murder and felony murder and sentenced to a 16-to-life prison term. Meanwhile, throughout the trial, Victoria cried, revealing that she felt suffocated.
Where Is Victoria Mendoza Now?
Victoria is currently serving her prison sentence at the Utah State prison’s Timpanogos Women’s Facility in Draper, Utah. The five-member Utah Board of Pardons and Parole cast their votes for her first parole hearing in 2016. It was revealed that she would be granted a parole hearing in 23 years, which is 2036.
Meanwhile, it seems like Victoria Mendoza is steadily pursuing a career while in prison as a social media personality. Though it stands against the prison rules, she has a TikTok account where she has over a thousand followers. She went further and created a YouTube account where she posts videos.
This did not sit well with Casey Baird, as he called her out and stated that she should be investigated. After going through the photos and videos that she updated, he revealed that she does not look remorseful after committing such a heinous crime.
