{
  "id": "2023-04-27-uc-davis-serial-stabbings",
  "slug": "uc-davis-serial-stabbings-2023-04-27",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of California, Davis",
    "shortName": "UC Davis",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Aggie Alert",
    "enrollment": 40000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-04-27",
    "endDate": "2023-05-03",
    "type": "stabbing",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Series of stabbings in the surrounding city kills two; former student arrested",
    "headlinePublic": "Series of stabbings in the surrounding city kills two; former student arrested",
    "summary": "Between April 27 and May 1, 2023, three people were stabbed in separate attacks in the city of Davis, California, killing a [homeless man and a UC Davis senior](https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/04/us/university-california-davis-stabbings-arrest-thursday/index.html) and critically injuring a homeless woman. The attacks triggered an overnight shelter-in-place advisory and left the college town on heightened alert until a [former UC Davis student was arrested on May 3](https://abcnews.go.com/US/person-interest-detained-deadly-uc-davis-stabbings-police/story?id=99071533).",
    "outcome": "Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, a former UC Davis student who had been academically dismissed two days before the first stabbing, was arrested on May 3, 2023, and charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. He was found not competent to stand trial in August 2023 and transferred to a state hospital; his competency was restored in December 2023. At trial in 2025 he admitted to the stabbings but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, testifying he has schizophrenia. In [June 2025 the jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder but deadlocked on second-degree murder, resulting in a mistrial](https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/carlos-dominguez-davis-murders-trial-updates/). A [retrial on the two second-degree murder counts and the attempted-murder count began in Yolo County Superior Court in May 2026](https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/carlos-dominguez-face-new-trial-second-degree-murder/103-dc35abad-0a30-4932-8d2a-8bde5df35de8); as of July 2026 the retrial had reached closing arguments with no verdict returned, and the judge found the prosecution committed a Racial Justice Act violation during its closing argument. Dominguez has not been convicted of murder.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 2,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2023-05-02T00:30:00-07:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from CNN, ABC News, and UC Davis news coverage",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2023-05-02T05:17:00-07:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from ABC10 and UC Davis news reports",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Thursday May 4, 2023, after the suspect was taken into custody; campuswide message from Chancellor Gary May",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "There is relief in knowing the alleged perpetrator of these senseless and violent acts is now in custody. We can all breathe a little easier and begin to process the pain, fear, and sorrow we collectively experienced in the past week.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/news/healing-together",
      "sourceDescription": "UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May's campuswide 'Healing Together' message, reproduced verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim quote from UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May's campuswide message issued Thursday May 4, 2023, after the arrest of Carlos Reales Dominguez",
        "The chancellor's framing ('breathe a little easier') is unusually personal and explicitly emotional language for a UC chancellor's communication",
        "The phrase 'collectively experienced' reflects the institutional posture that the trauma extended beyond direct victims to the entire community"
      ],
      "characterCount": 234
    }
  ],
  "context": "Between April 27 and May 3, 2023, the city of Davis, California, was gripped by a [series of three random stabbing attacks](https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/02/us/california-college-student-stabbing-tuesday/index.html) that killed two people and critically injured a third. The first victim, David Henry Breaux, 50, a homeless man, was found fatally stabbed on a bench in Central Park on the morning of April 27. Two days later, UC Davis senior Karim Abou Najm, 20, a computer science major, was [stabbed to death at Sycamore Park](https://abcnews.go.com/US/uc-davis-edge-wake-3-stabbings-city-1/story?id=99008428). On May 1, Kimberlee Guillory, 64, a homeless woman, was stabbed through her tent at an encampment at 2nd and L Street shortly before midnight; she survived and called 911. Following the third stabbing, the city issued a shelter-in-place order that was lifted the next morning at 5:17 AM PDT. UC Davis canceled all evening in-person classes and moved them to virtual instruction. On May 3, police arrested [Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, a former UC Davis student](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/05/03/stabbings-unsettle-uc-davis-campus) who had been academically dismissed on April 25, just two days before the first killing. Dominguez was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. In August 2023, he was found not competent to stand trial and was transferred to a state hospital; his competency was restored in December 2023. At his 2025 trial he admitted committing the stabbings but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, testifying that he has schizophrenia and attacked the victims believing they were shapeshifting figures. In [June 2025 the jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder and deadlocked on second-degree murder, and a mistrial was declared](https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/update-mistrial-declared-after-jury-impasse-in-davis-stabbing-case/article_c138ab42-6eb2-4fcb-ac4e-0520d5dc8c25.html). A retrial on the remaining second-degree murder and attempted-murder counts began in May 2026; as of July 2026 it was in closing arguments with no verdict, and [the judge found a Racial Justice Act violation in the prosecution's closing argument](https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/update-judge-finds-racial-justice-violation-as-dominguez-closing-arguments-resume/article_b78c4a2e-d193-46f8-9b72-b300d126d473.html).",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The suspect had been academically dismissed from UC Davis two days before the first stabbing",
    "The city-level shelter-in-place advisory followed the third stabbing, five days after the first killing",
    "UC Davis issued Aggie Alert messages and moved evening classes to virtual instruction while the suspect remained at large"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "UC Davis stabbings: 21-year-old former student charged (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/04/us/university-california-davis-stabbings-arrest-thursday/index.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Former UC Davis student arrested in fatal stabbings (NBC News)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/person-detained-connection-fatal-stabbings-uc-davis-campus-police-say-rcna82499",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "3rd stabbing in a week near UC Davis (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/02/us/california-college-student-stabbing-tuesday/index.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Stabbings unsettle UC Davis campus (Inside Higher Ed)",
      "url": "https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/05/03/stabbings-unsettle-uc-davis-campus",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect Still At Large as Shelter in Place Is Lifted (UC Davis)",
      "url": "https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/police-search-stabbing-suspect",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Mistrial declared in Davis stabbings trial; jury found Carlos Dominguez not guilty of first-degree murder (CBS Sacramento)",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/carlos-dominguez-davis-murders-trial-updates/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Davis stabbings: Carlos Dominguez to face new trial on 2nd degree murder charges (ABC10)",
      "url": "https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/carlos-dominguez-face-new-trial-second-degree-murder/103-dc35abad-0a30-4932-8d2a-8bde5df35de8",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Judge finds Racial Justice Act violation as Dominguez closing arguments resume (Davis Enterprise)",
      "url": "https://www.davisenterprise.com/news/update-judge-finds-racial-justice-violation-as-dominguez-closing-arguments-resume/article_b78c4a2e-d193-46f8-9b72-b300d126d473.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May's campuswide 'Healing Together' message, reproduced verbatim",
      "url": "https://leadership.ucdavis.edu/news/healing-together",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "stabbing",
    "serial-attacks",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "former-student",
    "california",
    "public-university",
    "multi-day-event",
    "academic-dismissal"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}