Carlos Dominguez returns to court ahead of new trial in deadly Davis stabbings
Carlos Reales Dominguez returned to a Woodland courtroom Thursday where a judge granted subpoenas to be sent to his former Davis workplaces ahead of a new trial in the 2023 stabbing spree that left two Davis men dead.
The former UC Davis student’s first murder trial ended in mistrial after Yolo County jurors deadlocked last June. A new trial is set for May. Jury selection is scheduled to begin May 18.
Dominguez, who appeared with defense attorney, Yolo County deputy public defender Daniel Hutchinson, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the killings of David Breaux, 50, and Karim Abou Najm, 20, in Davis’ Central and Sycamore parks in late April 2023. Dominguez, acquitted of first-degree murder at his first trial, faces charges of second-degree murder in the slayings at his May retrial.
A third attack, days later in May 2023, left Kimberlee Guillory, then 64, seriously injured. Dominguez faces an attempted murder charge in her attack.
Dominguez remains held without bail in Yolo County custody.
Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel T. McAdam granted Yolo County prosecutors’ request for subpoenas to be issued to Burger King and Jack in the Box restaurants where Dominguez worked while attending UC Davis.
Friends and a Jack in the Box co-worker at Dominguez’s first trial testified to his increasingly withdrawn and bizarre behavior. One co-worker described moments at the Davis fast food restaurant during which Dominguez would stare at the walls for long stretches of time.
Prosecutors plan to pursue a new theory at the upcoming May trial that Dominguez bought and was using heavy doses of cannabis for months contributing to his mental condition at the time of the serial stabbings.
Prosecutors introduced the argument in court last November, saying it does not conflict with Dominguez’s schizophrenia diagnosis. They also said they plan to call experts to testify about marijuana’s effects on young people’s mental health.
McAdam also ordered attorneys to return to court April 9. Yolo County Chief Deputy District David Wilson promised additional, but unspecified, information at the April hearing.
“There are some things that are fluid,” Wilson said.
This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 2:55 PM.
.JPG)