Latest news with #CarlosRealesDominguez
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Killer gives ghastly excuse for stabbing two people to death during week-long rampage in college town
A student on trial for stabbing two people to death and seriously injuring a third during a week-long rampage has claimed he believed his victims were supernatural 'shadow figures'. Carlos Reales Dominguez, 23, who was on a full scholarship at the University of California, Davis - where he was studying to be a doctor, is facing murder charges for the deaths of David Breax, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, as well as an attempted murder charge for the near-fatal stabbing of Kimberlee Guillory, who is now 64. His defense does not deny that Dominguez stabbed and killed the two men, and tried to kill Guillory - but instead claims he was suffering from untreated schizophrenia during the rampage in the spring of 2023. The fallout caused businesses to close early and night classes to switch to virtual learning until the suspect was caught, the Sacramento Bee reports. Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges against him. To bolster that claim, Dominguez took the witness stand on Monday and Tuesday - when he shared how he thought he was confronting what he believed were supernatural 'shadow figures.' Those figures, as well as 'shape shifters' and whispers he would hear 'like the TV had been left on in the background' would appear in his dreams, room and along the paths and parks he frequented at night, Dominguez testified. He said it was not until he was confined to a state hospital months later that he 'realized that the shadow figures were people I had stabbed.' In one instance, Dominguez claims he saw a figure laughing and pointing at him silently as it approached him on the Sycamore Park bike path on April 29, 2023. He said he believed the figure resembled the devil, and claimed he wanted to see if the shadow would try to avoid him if he got in his way, KCRA reports. Instead, Dominguez said, the figure crashed into him and they both fell on the ground. 'I remember the shadow, the shape-shifter coming toward me,' the accused murderer recounted to the 17-person jury. 'If I stepped in his way, he would see me and move to his right or left. He would stop laughing and point at me. 'I felt bad that he was making fun of me, not because I was angry, but because I was scared,' Dominguez said, noting that he does not remember actually attacking anyone and denied noticing any blood on his hands or clothes. But the details of the story matched up with the stabbing death of Najm, who was on his way home from an undergraduate awards ceremony that night when he was stabbed to death. Dominguez also spoke about seeing a shadow figure in a tent, who he said motioned for him to come closer. As he approached, he said the shadow grabbed him - prompting Dominguez to punch the shadow away. That shadow appears to have been Guillory, who was stabbed through a tent at a homeless encampment but survived the attack. And, he claimed, he saw Breaux as a 'shadowy figure' who was taunting him. Dominguez said he remembered lunging at the figure, but then 'blanked out,' according to Davis Vanguard. He claims he no longer suffers from such hallucinations after taking medication each night, but confirmed he still experiences negative symptoms like stiff posture and an inability to express emotion. Those who knew him in college have also testified how he became more distant and aloof, appearing uninterested in everything, losing weight, growing out his hair and letting his hygiene slip leading up to the murders. Health professionals have similarly testified that they believe Dominguez has some form of schizophrenia. However, prosecutors have challenged Dominguez's account of events and argued that it was anger that drove him to kill the two men and also stab Guillory. Fits Van Der Houk pointed to incidents of violent behavior, including punching a wall after failing a chemistry exam and breaking a toilet at his shared residence. Dominguez even wrote a poem entitled Knife in My Hand, which included knife imagery, and bought a combat knife online prior to the attacks. 'You killed David Breaux because you were angry,' Van Der Houk argued. 'You were thinking about killing people,' he said, noting that Najm was stabbed more than 50 times and Breaux was stabbed more than 30 times. The two were remembered fondly in the community in the aftermath, with residents saying Breaux was 'instrumental' in the addition of a 'Compassion Bench' at the corner of 3rd and C Streets, where he would ask people their definition of the word 'compassion.' He later published his notes as a collection of anonymous writings. Abou Najm, meanwhile, was set to graduate in just six weeks, his father told ABC10. He already had two jobs lined up for after graduation. 'We moved from Lebanon in 2018 when the situation in Lebanon was a little bit starting to go in not the right direction,' his father said. 'We came here hoping for safety.' 'I want this to be his memory: a bundle of energy, a bundle of positivity,' Majdi Abou Najm said of his son. 'Someone who was full of ambition, proud of his roots, who just wanted to make this world a better place.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Experts detail Dominguez's mental slide in jail as Davis stabbing trial presses on
Carlos Reales Dominguez sat motionless at the defense table Friday as experts testified to his mental decline at Yolo County Jail following his May 2023 arrest in the serial Davis stabbings that left two dead and another seriously injured. Testimony continued Friday in Yolo Superior Court in the guilt phase of the former UC Davis student's murder trial. Dominguez's defense, a week into its case before Judge Samuel McAdam, is arguing that Dominguez showed symptoms of schizophrenia at the time of the knife killings in late April and early May 2023, symptoms that worsened while jailed for the crimes. Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing deaths of David Breaux, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, at Davis' Central and Sycamore parks; and the wounding of Kimberlee Guillory, then 64, in her tent in the city's downtown. Jurors will decide whether Dominguez was sane at the time of the crimes in the second phase of the scheduled 10-week trial. Experts included Amy Gutierrez, the mental health coordinator who monitored Dominguez while he was on suicide watch in those first months inside Yolo County Jail. Gutierrez told jurors that Dominguez had dramatically dropped weight, spent long periods staring at the walls in his cell and had stopped showering or brushing his teeth, before being sent to a Davis hospital on a mental health hold. 'I believed he was greatly disabled,' Gutierrez told Yolo County deputy public defender Daniel Hutchinson, of Dominguez's placement on a mental hold. Dominguez was on suicide watch for more than 100 days in Yolo County custody, experts testified, before that watch was lifted in August 2023. Dominguez was also beginning to show 'significantly more serious symptoms' of mental illness, Patricia Tyler, the psychiatrist and former Napa State Hospital director, who also evaluated Dominguez, said. Tyler described a man 'very dirty, poorly groomed and barely speaking,' who appeared to show no expression or emotion, a sign of schizophrenia, she said. 'Here was a man in jail for the first time on a charge of murder with no sign of distress,' Tyler testified. 'His affect was quite unusual.' Jurors on Friday afternoon also returned to the nearly seven-hour interview of Dominguez by Davis detectives at Davis Police Department that led to his arrest, watching as detectives pressed him for details on the stabbing of Guillory, the lone survivor of the Davis attacks, inside her tent near Second and L streets. 'Look at me, John,' Davis detective Steve Ramos said at one point, calling Dominguez by the name he gave Davis police. 'What did you do, John? What did you do at the tent? Help us understand. How did you get into the tent?' Later, Ramos questioned Dominguez about the first victim, Breaux, the tactical knife found stowed in Dominguez's shopping tote and the leather knife sheath recovered days earlier by crime scene technicians next to Breaux's body at Central Park. Ramos' questions were met with long pauses and short answers. Dominguez, seated next to Hutchinson at the defense table, watched intently as his videotaped self struggled to answer the detective's questions. 'Why do you have that knife?' Ramos asked. Dominguez zipped up his jacket at one point while officers left the interview room for food and prepared to leave when he was stopped by an officer. He wanted to take a walk, Dominguez told the officer on video. The same officer asked Dominguez what he was thinking about. 'Schoolwork,' Dominguez said. Jurors Thursday afternoon watched the first hour of the interview with a disheveled Dominguez and the Davis detectives who wanted answers from their prime suspect. 'People lie to me every day,' Ramos told Dominguez on the interview video as Davis police Detective Matthew Muscardini watched from the witness stand. 'Take a look around this room. Be honest with yourself. Why are we here? Why are we here with you in this room?' he said. 'I'm not sure,' Dominguez said. Testimony resumes Tuesday in Woodland.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Survivor of Davis stabbing spree testifies at Carlos Dominguez trial about attack
Kimberlee Guillory initially believed she was being punched after someone slashed through her tent and attacked her with a blade. 'I just didn't think someone was stabbing me. The first time took my breath away. Then it continued,' Guillory said from the witness stand Wednesday afternoon at Carlos Reales Dominguez's murder trial in Woodland. Guillory, who was 64 at the time and newly homeless in Davis, had been sleeping in a friend's tent beside a PG&E substation on L Street. On May 1, 2023, she became the third and final victim in a weeklong stabbing spree that killed two others and left Davis on edge. Dominguez has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to the stabbings two years ago that killed David Breaux, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, as well as the near-fatal attack on Guillory. The trial, now in the guilt phase, is expected to last up to 10 weeks. Stabbing suspect Carlos Reales Dominguez listens to Kimberlee Guillory, who was stabbed in her in tent while living on L Street in Davis, testify in his trial while deputy public defender Daniel Hutchinson, right, takes notes on Wednesday in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland. Earlier Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from Dr. Matt Massie, the Davis physician who tried to save Najm after the college student was stabbed along a Sycamore Park bike path. Massie testified that he chased the attacker, who briefly turned to him and said, 'What do you want, man? Leave me alone.' The man's voice, Massie said, sounded like 'a scared young man,' not the monster he expected. Massie reached Najm, but his wounds were 'devastating,' and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Prosecutors allege Dominguez fled the park and, three days later, attacked Guillory. Stabbing victim Kimberlee Guillory uses a laser pointer, pointing to a map of the location of her tent on L Street in Davis when she was attacked, as she testifies on Wednesday during the trial of Carlos Reales Dominguez in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland. Word of the knife killings had made its way through the camps, campers who shared the strip of land along Davis' Second Street with Guillory testified. Guillory said she and a group of four others stayed close that night. She stayed awake browsing on a phone, the phone's glow illuminating the tent, as she leaned against its back wall. 'I thought I was being punched really hard in the back — at first. After a couple seconds, it hurt. He was continuing to stab me. I don't know who he was or why he was doing it,' Guillory, now 66 and living in West Sacramento, said. 'I stood up after he was gone and I saw blood start to gush out of me. I dialed my daughter's number and said, 'I've just been stabbed. She said, 'Oh, my God,' and that's when the ambulance came. I don't remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital.' Victim Kimberlee Guillory makes a downward stabbing motion, describing the knife attack that ripped open the tent where she living in Davis and sent her to the hospital, as she testifies on Wednesday during the trial of Carlos Reales Dominguez in Yolo Superior Court in Woodland. She spent several days in critical condition and testified that two campmates fought with her attacker, whom she later identified in the courtroom as Dominguez. 'I did actually see his face while they were wrestling. He looked at me while I was lying on the floor.' Yolo County District Attorney's prosecutors devoted Wednesday to testimony detailing the slayings of Breaux and Najm days apart in Davis' Central and Sycamore parks; before closing the day with Guillory's testimony. Dominguez, a former UC Davis student, was arrested three days late on May 4. Authorities say he purchased the tactical knife used in the stabbings months earlier. He was declared competent to stand trial in January after months at a state hospital. If convicted, he faces life in prison. Prosecutors decided months before the trial that they would not seek the death penalty. Testimony in the first phase continues through the week at Yolo Superior Court.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- CBS News
Lone survivor in Davis stabbings testifies in Carlos Dominguez's trial
WOODLAND – The lone survivor from the serial stabbings in spring 2023 in Davis testified on Wednesday. Kimberlee Guillory came face to face in the courtroom with her alleged attacker for the first time. Prosecutors said that Carlos Reales Dominguez stabbed her three times the night of May 1, 2023. She started crying in the courtroom when her 911 call from that night was played for the jury. "Someone came down behind me and cut the tent with the knife and at first I didn't think I was getting stabbed, I thought I was being punched," Guillory said. A photo of the tent she was living in on L and 2nd Streets was shown to the jury. She said she screamed for help and her friends in nearby tents rushed over. Defense cross-examined Guillory, questioning if her story has stayed consistent since the attack. The public defender told her that the person her friends chased after the attack was not Dominguez, but a man who worked at a nearby pizza place. Deputy Public Defender Daniel Hutchinson also asked her if she remembered saying during an interview one year ago that she wants to see Dominguez sentenced to life in prison without parole. He questioned Guillory about whether her desire to see this outcome affected the memories of what she really saw. She answered no. Guillory was one of four witnesses who took the stand on Wednesday. The trial will continue on Thursday morning.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
Opening statements read in former UC Davis student stabbing trial
( — The 10-week trial for former UC Davis student Carlos Reales Dominguez, who allegedly stabbed and killed two men and gravely injured one woman, began on Monday, May 5th. The 2023 stabbings rocked the City of Davis, an otherwise peaceful college town. Dominguez is being charged with murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a deadly weapon. The trial finally began after Dominguez was formerly found to be mentally unfit to stand trial and sent to Atascadero State Hospital for treatment. He has since been deemed competent for trial. Dominguez is being charged with murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a deadly weapon. The opening statements revealed several new and important details to the 18-member jury. The prosecution says the first victim, David Breaux, was stabbed 31 times, and a new leather knife sheath located near his body. Breaux was found sitting upright on a bench, but the prosecution says most of Breaux's stab wounds were on his back, which is inconsistent with that position. We also learned the second victim, UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, was stabbed 52 times, mostly in the vital portions of the body. Photographs revealed several stab wounds around his heart. The prosecution also said a nearby doctor heard the victim screaming, ran out to help, and saw the defendant ride away on Najm's bike. The third victim, Kimberlee Guillory, an unhoused woman, was allegedly stabbed twice through her tent. The prosecution also alleges the suspect was caught after a resident reported him to law enforcement. When officials allegedly closed in on him, they asked to see his hands and found a bloody knife in his backpack. The prosecutors also detail how they believe Dominguez purchased the deadly weapon. 'He searches on Amazon on his account for a combat knife, hunting knife, and a combat knife, and he makes a selection of a double-edged dagger that he purchases.' The defense claims the El Salvador-born former honor student and athlete began to have symptoms of schizophrenia after his first year at UC Davis. His attorney said he believed he was being directed by supernatural beings. The defense told the court that his ex-girlfriend allegedly claimed he became withdrawn, and told friends he was hearing voices, and co-workers say he stopped showing up to his job. 'What is not in dispute is that Dominguez did the physical act that caused the deaths of David Breaux, Kareem Abu Najam and injured Kimberly Gilbert,' the defense attorney says. 'The question that will be presented to you is, what was Carlos Reales Dominguez's specific intent and mental state when he did those physical acts, and what was happening in his mind? The evidence will show that it was a mind that had been devastated by severe and debilitating mental disease.' While in the hospital, he was forced to take medication. The defense attorney says Dominguez's symptoms are less pronounced but still present. Several witnesses also shared more details about the murder of David Bureau. The first witness was David Breaux's sister, Anne Maria Breaux. She testified that her brother, known as 'compassion guy' was a Stanford University graduate, former high school teacher, and case manager for at-risk youth in Los Angeles. He struggled with depression, moved to the City of Davis in 2009, and became unhoused in 2018. Ian Haliburton, an ornithologist and former UC Davis Graduate student, and Aiden Reynolds, a current UC Davis Student, testified that they were monitoring birds in Central Park when they discovered Breaux's body. The court also heard from several law enforcement officials who were on the scene when the bureau's body was discovered. 'The exterior of his clothing had notable puncture marks on the upper torso area of his body, there was a saturation around those puncture marks that was red in color, it appeared to be blood,' Detective Alex Torres with the Davis Police Department testified. The detective also noted that Breaux was wearing four layers of clothing on his upper body, which he says is notable because of how deeply the knife cut through the garments and punctured the body. Torres also says he found two items near the body- a blanket and a leather knife sheath. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News.
