Jurors in Davis stabbing case find Carlos Dominguez not guilty of first-degree murder

WOODLAND, Calif. (CN) — After nine days of deliberation over three weeks, jurors in the murder trial of former UC Davis student Carlos Dominguez could only agree he wasn’t guilty of first-degree murder.

The jury couldn’t agree on verdicts for Dominguez’s remaining charges and the judge on Friday declared a mistrial.

The lengthy legal process hasn’t ended for the 22-year-old Dominguez, who medical experts have said is schizophrenic. Attorneys will return to the Yolo County Courthouse on July 24 to discuss their next steps.

Dominguez faced two counts of first-degree murder and a count of attempted murder in the spring 2023 slayings of David Breaux, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, as well as the stabbing of an unhoused woman. They also had what’s called lesser-included charges to consider, like second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Dominguez pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.

While jurors acquitted Dominguez on two counts of first-degree murder, they split 10-2 in favor of acquittal on the second-degree murder charge. They never reached discussion on the involuntary manslaughter and attempted murder accusations.

“They’ve worked very hard on this,” Yolo County Superior Court Judge Sam McAdam told the attorneys moments before jurors filed into the courtroom. “It would appear that they’re done.”

Once jurors entered the courtroom, McAdam asked each of them whether they believed further deliberations could lead to a unanimous verdict. Each juror said more time wouldn’t help.

“That was definitive from each of you,” McAdam said.

The fatal stabbings in late April 2023 set the college town of Davis on edge. They ended with the early May 2023 arrest of Dominguez, whose trial began last month. Jurors heard weeks of testimony before the attorneys made their arguments June 6.

That testimony included former friends of Dominguez who told jurors about his descent into schizophrenia. A well-groomed, athletic college student changed into an unkempt man who stared at walls, heard voices and saw shadow figures.

Dominguez testified that the shadow-shapeshifters would point and laugh at him. In one of the stabbings, he remembered lunging at a figure.

Medical experts testified that Dominguez suffered from schizophrenia at the time of the stabbings. In late 2023, prosecutors conceded that Dominguez wasn’t competent to stand trial, halting the criminal proceedings. His competency was restored after months at a state hospital, and Dominguez again proceeded toward trial.

Prosecutors didn’t dispute his Dominguez’s schizophrenia, but noted that he bought a hunting knife online months before the stabbings. He was failing college and distraught over his girlfriend leaving him.

Dominguez intended to kill and planned for it, prosecutors said, an essential component of first-degree murder.

Dominguez’s public defender blasted the investigation and prosecution, calling it “amateur hour.” He accused prosecutors of misstating evidence in an effort to convince jurors Dominguez was lucid during the stabbings.

At one point, Deputy Public Defender Dan Hutchinson accused Deputy District Attorney Frits van der Hoek of prosecutorial misconduct. Van der Hoek told jurors that no blood was found at Dominguez’s home, which would indicate he tried to hide it and would help prove culpability.

Hutchinson argued that blood was found at the home. McAdam later formally admonished van der Hoek over the issue.

The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office couldn’t be reached for comment. Chief Public Defender Tracie Olson declined comment.