CALIFORNIA

Ex-UC Davis student arrested in serial stabbings that have terrorized city

BY JESSICA GARRISON, BRITTNY MEJIA
MAY 4, 2023 UPDATED 10:55 PM PT

DAVIS, Calif. — Police on Thursday named a young man recently “separated” from UC Davis for academic reasons as the suspect in stabbings that left two men dead and one woman in critical condition in this bucolic college town just west of Sacramento. ... Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said at an afternoon news conference.



Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, was arrested on two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder.(Yolo County Sheriff’s Department )

Davis Mayor Will Arnold praised the law enforcement effort. ... “It’s because of the fine police work that we are here today to announce that the individual believed to be responsible for these horrific, brutal attacks is no longer free to terrorize our community,” Arnold said. “A murderer is off the streets, and our families will sleep easier tonight.”

Dominguez, who was majoring in biological sciences, had been in his third year at UC Davis until April 25, when he was separated for unspecified academic reasons, according to the university. He had no criminal record, police said.

Two days after UC Davis ousted Dominguez, on April 27, authorities found the body of 50-year-old David Henry Breaux, a Stanford University graduate who slept in Davis’ Central Park and was known around town for his gentle proselytizing on the need for human compassion. Breaux had been stabbed to death on the bench where he often slept. ... It was the first of three attacks authorities attribute to Dominguez.

Two days later, Karim Abou Najm, 20, a UC Davis student who had recently posted to social media about his joy at finding a job as a software engineer, was fatally stabbed in Sycamore Park as he biked home from a university event Saturday night.

Monday night, a woman in her 60s was attacked as she slept at 2nd and L streets. She was alone when a person slashed the side of her tent, reached in and stabbed her several times. She was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where she was recovering after surgery.

Dominguez, who graduated from Castlemont High School in Oakland in 2020, is expected to be arraigned in Yolo County Superior Court on Friday afternoon.

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