Dominguez’s arraignment was scheduled following the hearing
By MADELEINE YOUNG — city@theaggie.org
Carlos Reales Dominguez was arraigned on March 13 following the preliminary hearing that began on Feb. 26.
Last year, prosecutors deemed Dominguez mentally unfit to face charges based on testimony made by Dr. Dale Watson on the fifth day of Dominguez’s competency trial in July.
“My opinion is that he is most likely schizophrenic, that this is a ‘first break’ of schizophrenia and that he’s suffering both of the psychiatric illness and the neurocognitive deficits that are often associated with an illness like schizophrenia,” Dr. Watson said to the court.
However, Dominguez was recently restored to mental competency following examinations by state hospital officials at Atascadero. Once deemed fit for trial, the preliminary hearing began at the end of February.
The Yolo County District Attorney announced on Feb. 26 that they would not be seeking the death penalty. During the preliminary hearing, the court heard multiple testimonies regarding the attacks. One of those testimonies came from Davis Police Corporal Pheng Ly who attempted to revive UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm on April 29.
“He was lifeless,” Ly told prosecutors at the preliminary hearing as he recalled attempting CPR on Najm, according to coverage by ABC10.
Ly testified that he and his fellow officers on the scene heard a male voice yelling for help before seeing two individuals at the park — one hunched over and the other attacking the former.
Sergent Matthew Muscardini, who conducted the interview with Dominguez after his detainment, testified about the third victim, Kimberlee Guillory, who survived her wounds from an attack on May 1.
“She was sitting on her bed inside her tent, on her phone, and she said she felt like she got punched through the tent,” Muscardini said in his testimony, according to KCRA3. “She did not realize she had been stabbed twice until later on.”
Ultimately, Judge Samuel McAdam ordered a trial for two homicides and one attempted homicide.
Written by: Madeleine Young — city@theaggie.org
