Cloaked in an anti-suicide vest, his eyes downcast, the previous UC Davis scholar charged in a spate of vicious stabbings that terrorized this leafy school city over the previous week pleaded not responsible Friday to 2 counts of homicide and one depend of tried homicide.
Carlos Reales Dominguez, who was “separated” from UC Davis for poor educational efficiency lower than two days earlier than the violence started, appeared behind glass in Yolo Superior Courtroom, sporting a vest designed to guard him from hurting himself and to stop others from doing him hurt. He was chained on the waist, his arms skinny and naked.
The charging paperwork listed his age as 20, a yr youthful than the age Davis police offered in saying his arrest Thursday.
Dominguez spoke to the courtroom solely briefly to point that he waived his proper to a speedy preliminary listening to. Primarily based on the fees and a special-circumstance allegation, prosecutors may search the dying penalty within the case. Dominguez stays in custody within the Yolo County jail on a no-bail maintain.
A number of of Dominguez’s members of the family sat within the courtroom close to to the place he stood behind glass. They declined to talk with reporters, and departed shortly to their automobile when the listening to was over.
In an interview Thursday, Dominguez’s father expressed utter bewilderment and shock at his son’s arrest, describing Dominguez as an achieved scholar and athlete at Castlemont Excessive Faculty in Oakland, the place he graduated in 2020.
“That is inexplicable to me,” he informed The Instances, including that he was unaware UC Davis had disqualified his son for educational struggles final week. “He was so excited to go to Davis. I don’t perceive how this might occur.”
Dominguez, who was born in El Salvador, entered the nation in April 2009 as an unaccompanied minor, in line with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. He was transferred to a member of the family and his immigration case was closed administratively in April 2012.
This week, the company positioned a detainer to take custody of Dominguez, “ought to he be launched from native custody,” the official mentioned.
Dominguez is charged in a sequence of seemingly random stabbings that left two males useless and critically injured a homeless girl. Two of the assaults occurred in native parks, casting a pall over a metropolis that celebrates its well-used bike paths, youth sports activities and ample inexperienced house. He was detained by police Wednesday afternoon, after a number of Davis residents referred to as police to say he matched the outline offered by witnesses in two of the assaults.
The investigation started April 27, after authorities discovered the bloodied physique of 50-year-old David Henry Breaux, a Stanford College graduate who slept in Davis’ Central Park and was recognized round city for his mild proselytizing on the necessity for compassion. Breaux had been stabbed to dying on the bench the place he usually slept. No witnesses have come ahead in that assault.
Two days later, Karim Abou Najm, 20, a graduating UC Davis scholar who had lately posted to social media about his pleasure at discovering a job as a software program engineer, was fatally stabbed in Sycamore Park as he biked dwelling from a college occasion Saturday evening. A neighbor who responded to the scene after listening to sounds of misery described the assailant as a younger man with curly hair and a skinny construct who fled on Najm’s bike.
Monday evening, a girl in her 60s was attacked as she slept at a homeless encampment at 2nd and L streets close to town’s downtown. She was alone in her tent when an individual slashed the canvas, reached in and stabbed her repeatedly. The assailant ran off when her screams drew the assistance of fellow campers. She was taken to UC Davis Medical Heart, the place she was recovering after surgical procedure.
On Wednesday, Dominguez was noticed strolling by a park close to the place Najm had been killed on April 29, wearing darkish clothes — black sweatshirt and black monitor pants with a white stripe — that matched the outline offered by witnesses to the third assault. With wavy shoulder-length hair and a skinny construct, Dominguez’s bodily look additionally matched witness descriptions.
Police detained Dominguez and mentioned they discovered a big “hunting-style knife” in his backpack. The weapon was in keeping with one police consider was used within the assault on Breaux. Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel mentioned investigators spoke with Dominguez for hours earlier than arresting him for all three crimes. Pytel described his method as “reserved” however declined to disclose particulars of the dialog.
Relations of the victims have been left reeling. Maria Breaux, David’s older sister, described her brother as somebody who “simply had this kindness in him and has all the time had it.”
He moved to Davis round 2010, she mentioned, as a result of he had a pal within the space and felt secure in Davis’ laid-back ambiance. Over time, he grew to become a well known determine on the town, often called the “Compassion Man” for his behavior of extolling folks to embody a spirit of humanity and forgiveness. In 2013, Breaux labored with town to erect a bench that featured ceramic tiles celebrating the worth of compassion. He interviewed guests to the bench about their views on kindness and empathy, as a part of a weekly YouTube video sequence.
“That’s the place he created a group and impacted hundreds and hundreds of individuals,” his sister mentioned in a tearful interview.
The stabbings despatched a chill by Davis, as fearful residents hunkered down. The town’s famed bike paths grew quiet, its cafes closed early, and UC Davis moved night lessons on-line. Dad and mom who sometimes let their youngsters stroll or bike to high school have been immediately organizing carpools.
In an indication of how tight-knit the group is, Yolo Superior Courtroom Decide Dan Wolk, a former Davis mayor, opened Friday’s arraignment by disclosing that he too had been touched by the crime.
He and his spouse dwell about half a mile from Sycamore Park, the place Najm was killed, he mentioned. And on the evening of the deadly stabbing, about 40 minutes earlier than, his spouse was strolling the household canine and noticed somebody who “could or could not have matched the outline of the suspect.”
She later reported the sighting to police, Wolk informed the courtroom, however officers didn’t observe up.
Hours after Dominguez was arraigned, tons of of kinfolk and buddies of Najm gathered in a reception room on the UC Davis campus to have fun his life.
Najm was born in Lebanon and moved along with his household to Davis in 2018 after his father, a soil scientist, grew to become a professor at UC Davis. Najm was six weeks from graduating early from UC Davis with a level in pc science.
“We misplaced our son in probably the most tragic method,” his mom, Nadine Abou Najm, informed a room stuffed with sobbing family and friends. However, she added: “I’ll concentrate on the goodness of humanity and the group.”
In Arabic, she mentioned, Karim means “beneficiant,” and her son was stuffed with generosity. That was one thing introduced dwelling to her within the days since his homicide, as his dad and mom have heard so many tales of the methods through which he reached out to attach with folks.
Speaker after speaker spoke of a younger man who was ebullient and sort. And in addition so aggressive he was recognized to cheat at on-line chess. He was impatient about pushing his analysis ahead, his mentor, Lee Miller, informed these gathered, and enthusiastic about growing a greater listening to help. He referred to as his finest pal, Aman Ganapathy, day-after-day and wasn’t afraid to say he beloved him. He had an outrageous style sense, some mentioned, however an unimpeachable style in espresso.
His father, Majdi Abou Najm, mentioned the household was working with UC Davis to launch a scholar analysis award, so his son’s spirit of inquiry may dwell on. The fund already has obtained greater than $87,000 in donations from greater than 700 folks.
His father additionally requested mourners to recollect their son in one other method: by telling the folks of their lives that they beloved them. He paused the service so everybody current may make fast cellphone calls.
Najm’s mom referred to as out the necessity to do extra to deal with psychological sickness. Her son, she famous, was an amazing listener.
“Psychological well being is a nationwide disaster,” she mentioned. “And we can’t flip our backs [if we want to understand] what turns folks into monsters. When you see somebody struggling, do one thing.”
