Carlos Dominguez found guilty of 2 involuntary manslaughter counts in 2023 Davis stabbings
A Yolo County jury on Tuesday found former UC Davis student Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2023 fatal stabbings that shook the Davis community.
Jurors also found Dominguez not guilty of attempted murder in the stabbing of Kimberlee Guillory, the lone survivor of the attacks.
The retrial follows a 2025 mistrial after jurors found Dominguez not guilty of first-degree murder but were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on second-degree murder charges.
The first victim, David Breaux — known throughout Davis as the "Compassion Guy" — was found stabbed to death while sleeping on a bench in Central Park. Two days later, UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm was fatally stabbed more than 50 times while riding his bicycle through Sycamore Park.
Guillory survived after she was stabbed while sleeping in a tent at a homeless encampment in Davis.
Unlike the first trial, prosecutors in the retrial acknowledged that Dominguez was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the attacks. However, they argued his actions were intentional and alleged that heavy marijuana use triggered a cannabis-induced psychosis that exacerbated his mental illness.
Deputy District Attorney Matt DeMoura told jurors the attacks were deliberate, arguing that even while experiencing psychosis, Dominguez intended to kill his victims.
The defense did not dispute that Dominguez carried out the stabbings but maintained he was legally insane at the time because of severe, undiagnosed schizophrenia.
Public defender Daniel Hutchinson argued Dominguez's mental illness had progressively worsened in the weeks leading up to the attacks and that he was experiencing his first psychotic break. The defense rejected the prosecution's theory that cannabis-induced psychosis was responsible, instead pointing to testimony from mental health experts who diagnosed Dominguez with schizophrenia.
The retrial centered on Dominguez's mental state and whether he could be held criminally responsible for the attacks.
