California Today

Santana Row Stabbing Trial: Defense Claims Victim May Have Been Armed

19 May 2026 15:30

Closing arguments were presented Monday in the trial of a 13-year-old boy accused of fatally stabbing 15-year-old David Gutierrez at Santana Row in San Jose on Valentine's Day 2025. - The defense claims the teen acted in self-defense and that Gutierrez may have had a knife.

- Gutierrez was wearing a red jacket, which the attackers mistook as a gang sign, but his family says it was for the holiday. - If convicted, the defendant faces only up to eight months in juvenile hall due to California laws.

- The only adult charged, Emanuel Sanchez-Damian, has not yet gone to trial. The case now goes to the jury, with the victim's family protesting the potential lenient sentence.

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