Mistrial for Carlos Dominguez in Davis stabbings case. What jury told judge

A Yolo County judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case against former UC Davis student Carlos Reales Dominguez after jurors acquitted him of one murder charge and failed to reach a verdict on a second in connection with a series of stabbings that rocked the community two years ago.

The jury of eight women and four men found Dominguez not guilty of first-degree murder in the April 2023 stabbing death of David Breaux. On the charge of second-degree murder in Breaux’s killing, jurors deadlocked 10-2 to acquit. On the charge of second-degree murder in the killing of UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, jurors said they were deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal.

Jurors also deadlocked 8-4 to acquit Dominguez of attempted murder in the attack on Kimberlee Guillory, stabbed while in her tent in downtown Davis days after the slayings of Breaux and Najm.

Jurors would first have had to reach decisions on the murder charges and attempted murder in the attack on Guillory before deciding the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.

The split persisted for “about a week,” the jury foreperson told Judge Samuel T. McAdam in the Woodland courtroom. Jurors deliberated nine days across three weeks’ time, listening to extensive readback of testimony from doctors who treated Dominguez and numerous witnesses, McAdam said from the bench.

Dominguez, 23, faces charges stemming from a knife rampage that left Breaux and Najm dead and severely wounded Guillory.

Outside of court, relatives of the victims and others in attendance were stunned by the turn of events.

Majdi Abou Najm, the father of the UC Davis student slain in Sycamore Park, called Friday “a nightmare.”

“The fact that we have to go through this again is unbelievable,” he told reporters.

Najm sat arms folded in the front row of the gallery. A book rested at his side. Its title: “Trials Without Truth.”

Najm and wife, Nadine Yehya, turned their backs to the jurors as the panel left the courtroom.

A new hearing was set for July 24; Dominguez will remain in custody at the Monroe Detention Center, McAdam ruled.

The first-degree murder verdict is final. A legal expert who spoke with The Bee said it was unlikely Yolo County prosecutors would retry the second-degree murder charges.

“The split was 10 to 2,” said Mark Reichel, a federal criminal defense attorney and legal analyst based in Sacramento. “You rarely see a retrial for that. Everything else in the charges will be retried, I believe.”

The sanity phase of the two-part trial remains to be heard. With a retrial date in the guilt phase still to be determined, the sanity phase may be months away.

Dominguez displayed little reaction in court as the judge worked through the forms and polled the jury, consistent with his demeanor throughout the trial. His public defender, Daniel Hutchinson, argued Dominguez was in a psychotic state due to schizophrenia and should be convicted only of involuntary manslaughter.

Dominguez, who testified at the end of five weeks of trial, faced two counts of murder and an allegation of attempted murder in the serial stabbings, as well as assault with a weapon causing great bodily injury, and special circumstances including the commission of multiple murders. Months before the trial start, prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty if Dominguez was convicted.

Jurors could have also considered allegations of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors said Dominguez was angry and spiraling. They cited a knife purchase months before the killings and said the attacks were deliberate acts of violence.

Breaux, 50, was stabbed 31 times on a Central Park bench on April 27, 2023. Najm, 20, was killed days later on a Sycamore Park bike path. Guillory, 64 at the time, was attacked in her tent downtown but survived and testified against Dominguez.

Dominguez’s trial was delayed in 2023 while he was treated at Atascadero State Hospital and later found competent to stand trial.

This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM.

Darrell Smith

The Sacramento Bee

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Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.