UC Davis serial stabbings suspect found competent to stand trial
A former student at the University of California-Davis accused of killing two people and wounding a third in a series of stabbings earlier this year has been found mentally fit to face trial, officials said Thursday.
Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, was arrested on May 4 on murder and attempted murder charges. His arrest brought to an end several days of fear that terrorized the community in the small college town in northern California.
His criminal trial was paused earlier this year after prosecutors agreed he wasn’t fit to stand trial and take part in his defense.
But on Thursday, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said hospital officials have deemed Dominguez “certified competent”, adding he’s set to return to court on Jan. 5. Criminal proceedings will be reinstated if there are no challenges to his health state, Yolo County assistant chief deputy district attorney Melinda Aiello said, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Dominguez — who was a third-year student biology student before he was expelled in April for academic reasons — was arrested on May 4 and charged in the deaths of two victims: David Breaux, a 50-year-old homeless man, and Karim Abou Najm, a 20-year-old UC Davis student.
He’s also accused of stabbing a 64-year-old woman, Kimberlee Guillory, while she slept in her tent in a homeless encampment, but she survived the attack.
In a hearing in June, a psychiatric examiner found Dominguez unfit to stand trial. Prosecutors disagreed, saying the former student was “toying with the system.” A hearing to determine his competency followed, but in August the case was put on hold after prosecutors agreed Dominguez wasn’t mentally fit to stand trial and he couldn’t help his defense.
The alleged killer was taken to a state hospital in Atascadero where he would remain until he was found competent to take part in his criminal defense.
On Dec. 20, a doctor at the hospital submitted a report declaring him mentally competent to do so, the DA’s office said.
