A jury and a judge in California this week effectively closed the books on the criminal case that resulted from a series of stabbings near the University of California, Davis, in 2023.
On Tuesday, a jury found Carlos Reales Dominguez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of two people but acquitted him of second-degree murder. On Wednesday, Judge Samuel McAdam of Yolo County Superior Court, ruling from the bench, found that Mr. Dominguez, whose trial had been delayed until he was deemed mentally fit to stand trial, was legally insane at the time of the stabbings.
The sentence for Mr. Reales Dominguez, a former U.C. Davis student who is now 23, could be as much as six years in a state hospital — rather than a prison — when lawyers return to court Aug. 19.
“I feel like the outcome was the fairest possible outcome,” said Kari Peterson, a friend of David Breaux, one of the fatal stabbing victims.
The violent outburst, with two people killed and another person injured, shocked the city. Before the 2023 stabbings, homicides had dropped to zero in the three years prior.
Mr. Breaux, 50, was found stabbed repeatedly on April 27 near the corner of Third and C Streets in downtown Davis.
Two days later, a 20-year-old student, Karim Abou Najm, 20, was found dead in a park. He was six weeks away from graduating from U.C. Davis with a computer science degree.
Fear gripped the city, with businesses shuttering their doors and U.C. Davis canceling or cutting short some events. “Residents were afraid to walk alone, students altered their routines and an entire city lived in fear,” Melinda Aiello, the acting Yolo County district attorney, said in a statement.
As investigators pored over evidence and hundreds of tips, Kimberlee Guillory was stabbed through a tent in a homeless encampment as she slept. She survived.
The jury acquitted Mr. Reales Dominguez on the charges that prosecutors had brought related to her attack.
Defendants in California must be mentally sound to understand the legal proceedings involving their criminal accusations and help their lawyers build their own defense. But the way the case unfolded for Mr. Reales Dominguez — which could have involved three jury trials — was unusual.
“This is a really rare bird,” said Mark Reichel, who has been a criminal defense lawyer in Sacramento since 1991.
Ms. Aiello said her office had sought Judge McAdam’s ruling because jurors had signaled through their acquittal that Mr. Reales Dominguez did not possess the intent required for a second-degree murder conviction.
“The evidence was going to be very similar in the second phase,” Ms. Aiello said.
Daniel Hutchinson, the defense lawyer for Mr. Reales Dominguez, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The three-year criminal proceedings against Mr. Reales Dominguez initially involved a judge declaring him legally incompetent to stand trial. He received treatment after psychiatrists said he suffered from schizophrenia and stood trial in 2025 but a jury could not reach a verdict.
Ms. Peterson, Mr. Breaux’s friend for more than a decade, said she was pleased with Judge McAdam’s ruling. Still, her heart aches for the victims’ families and friends, and for Mr. Reales Dominguez, she said.
“He is suffering from this terrible, terrible illness,” she said.
This compassionate perspective is what Mr. Breaux would have wanted, Ms. Peterson said. She recalled that Mr. Breaux had written a note with one request for his family if he ever died.
“Forgive the perpetrator,” Ms. Peterson said Mr. Breaux had written in the note.
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