Davis stabbings suspect Carlos Dominguez takes the stand in his defense
WOODLAND -- The former UC Davis student accused of going on a deadly stabbing spree took the stand in his own murder trial on this week.
He has pleaded not guilty in the 2023 stabbings that left two people dead and a third injured.
The attacks spanned across several days, traumatizing the community of Davis and leaving David Breaux, known in the community as the "Compassion Guy," and 20-year-old UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm dead. Kimberlee Guillory survived the attacks. She testified in the trial earlier in May.
The defense is trying to prove Dominguez was legally insane during the attacks.
On the stand Monday, Dominguez testified that he believed he was attacking shadow figures he called "shape shifters" or "supernatural beings" and was scared during each of the attacks.
"I started to hear clear voices," Dominguez said. "They started telling me, 'You won't go up to him. You won't, you won't, you won't.' "
Dominguez spoke about his childhood struggles, from saying he was sexually assaulted as a child by his grandmother's maid to his journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador. He said his parents often got drunk and violent with each other.
Dominguez said he remained close with his siblings, becoming a typical outgoing teen and excelling in school and sports.
"I remember being in the room with my mom, dad and brother watching cartoons on the TV," he said.
Starting school at UC Davis in the fall of 2020, Dominguez dreamed of becoming a doctor, made new friends and got a girlfriend.
It wasn't until the second half of his freshman year that he said he now realizes his first schizophrenia symptoms began: seeing figures, sleep paralysis and racing thoughts.
"It looked like the devil, and I thought it was something evil surrounding me," Dominguez said.
Legal expert Mark Reichel says putting a defendant on the stand in a high-profile case like this is unique.
"Anytime someone takes the stand, it's unusual. But I'm not saying it's a last stitch effort; it may be a very powerful tool by the defense specifically because the jury gets to hear from him and see him," Reichel said. "He'll get the opportunity to explain it in his own words, and it's much better than your lawyer trying to explain it."
Dominguez retook the stand on Tuesday, with the prosecution performing their cross-examination. He was asked about the second deadly stabbing of Abou Najm in Sycamore Park. He was attacked while riding his bicycle.
Dominguez said Najm appeared to him as a "shadow figure" with a large void where the mouth should be and was approaching him. Dominguez then stepped into Najm's path as he rode his bike and collided with him, prosecutors say.
"You stabbed him specifically in the heart because you wanted to kill him, correct?" asked prosecutor Frits Van Der Hoek during cross-examination of Dominguez.
"I don't remember that," said Dominguez.
"Do shadows have hearts?" asked Van Der Hoek.
"I don't know," Dominguez responded.
"If it was a shadow, there would be no need to stab in the heart versus other places would there?" asked Van Der Hoek.
"I don't know," said Dominguez.
Dominguez testified that he doesn't remember stabbing any of the victims, but came to realize what he did after he was arrested and treated for undiagnosed schizophrenia in a state hospital.
"What did you come to recognize?" Dominguez's public defender Daniel Hutchinson asked him Tuesday in court.
"I started to realize that the people I thought were shadow shape shifters that I stabbed were actual people," responded Dominguez.
"As you sit here today, what is your recognition of who those people were?" asked Hutchinson further.
"Um, I realize it was David Breaux, Karim Abou Najm and Kimberly Guillory," responded Dominguez.
Previously, the trial was put on pause after Dominguez was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Once the trial resumed earlier in 2025, after he was found competent to stand trial, Dominguez has remained stoic and quiet in the courtroom, emotionless.
"Have you felt emotion seeing the evidence in this trial?" Hutchinson asked his client.
"Yes," Dominguez responded.
"What emotion have you felt?" Hutchinson asked further.
"Um, I've been feeling really upset and sad," responded Dominguez.
"Why have you felt upset and sad?" Hutchinson asked.
"Because of what I have been seeing and that I stabbed three people and because of that, other people got hurt," said Dominguez.
The prosecution is trying to prove Dominguez knew what he was doing at the time of the attacks and that he was acting in anger, after being placed on academic probation at UC Davis and struggling financially.
Prosecutor Van Der Hoek on Tuesday worked to poke holes in Dominguez's testimony during cross-examination, calling into question whether his testimony about seeing his victims as "shadow figures" was truthful.
"So shadows are scary, right?" asked Van Der Hoek.
"Yes," Dominguez responded.
"If the shadows are scary, why are you going to the shadow?" asked Van Der Hoek.
"I don't know, I kind of was just doing what the shadow was telling me to do," Dominguez responded.
Among the other individuals who have testified in the case are a former professor of Dominguez, doctors and an ex-girlfriend.
Prosecutors have said they will not be seeking the death penalty against Dominguez if he is convicted.
