A Victorian grandmother told a paramedic her daughter-in-law had stabbed her, as she laid in an ambulance fighting for her life.
They were her final words. She died in hospital eight days later.
Emma Yuot, 29, has been found unfit to stand trial in the Supreme Court due to mental difficulties, after she was charged with the murder of Adakruai Mitiang Ater, 58.
A jury has been empanelled to decide whether Yuot committed the offence in a special hearing, which began on Monday.
Mrs Ater was Yuot's mother-in-law and tensions had been rising between the pair in the months leading up to the January 2021 stabbing, prosecutor Robyn Harper told the jury.
The family, including Yuot, her husband, their two children and Mrs Ater's other son, were all living together in Mrs Ater's Ascot Vale apartment.
"Their relationship was quite strained," Detective Senior Constable Michael Cashman said.
"There seemed to be regular bickering about the accused's use of the bathroom, childminding arrangements and general household expenses."
Two days before the stabbing, Mrs Ater asked her son and his family to move out of her home.
Mrs Ater's two sons left to go to work at a meat processing factory between 3am and 4am on January 21. Five hours later, Mrs Ater was lying in bed when Yuot grabbed a kitchen knife.
Yuot walked into Mrs Ater's bedroom about 9am and stabbed her in the chest and chin.
She left the apartment with her two children and a suitcase, asking for help to find housing outside a nearby service station.
Yuot was later taken into custody and interviewed after being dropped at Footscray police station.
A neighbour found Mrs Ater lying in the hallway of her home with two stab wounds just after 10am.
She was conscious at the time and pointed to her wounds.
An ambulance was called and she was transported to hospital, with a paramedic asking her if she knew who had stabbed her.
"Emma," Mrs Ater replied. She later died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from the stab wounds.
Yuot's barrister Tim Marsh did not challenge the prosecution case as he said he could not get his client's account about what happened due to her mental and intellectual difficulties.
In a special hearing it is open to the jury to find the accused had committed the offence, was not guilty, or not guilty by reason of mental impairment.
The hearing before Justice Andrew Tinney continues on Wednesday.
