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In late April to early May 2023, a series of stabbings occurred in Davis, California near the UC Davis campus. Three people were stabbed, two of whom died, and one remained in critical condition. On May 3, police arrested a suspect who they believe was responsible for all three stabbings.

Attacks

First attack

On April 27, 2023, at around 11:20 am, police were called for a welfare check for a man found unresponsive on a bench in Central Park, located in downtown Davis.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] First responders discovered that he had suffered numerous stab wounds, and police began a homicide investigation. It is unknown when the stabbing occurred. Breaux had been known to sleep on the bench.^[5]^[6] The man was later identified as 50-year-old David Henry Breaux,^[1] an author and activist known locally as "The Compassion Guy."^[7] Breaux was a regular on the streets of Davis, where he greeted people and asked for them to share their personal views on compassion.^[8]

Second attack

Two days after the attack on Breaux, a second stabbing occurred on April 29, at Sycamore Park in Davis. The crime happened at approximately 9:15 pm. The victim was identified as Karim Abou Najm, 20, a student at UC Davis and a graduate of Davis High School.^[9] He was biking home from an undergraduate conference where he had won an award for his outstanding research and development of software designed to help hearing-impaired people. Like Breaux, he also suffered many stab wounds across his body. The attacker took and fled on Abou Najm's bike,^[10] and a man who helped him at the scene provided a description that matched the primary suspect.^[3] Abou Najm died of his wounds.^[3]

Third attack

On May 1, shortly before midnight, Kimberlee Guillory, a 64-year-old homeless woman, was stabbed through her tent at an encampment at 2nd and L Street on the outskirts of downtown Davis. She survived the attack and called 911 to report the stabbing. She was hospitalized in critical condition at the UC Davis Medical Center.^[11] The suspect was spotted at the encampment by a group of people who provided a description of the attacker, which matched the description given by the eyewitness at the Abou Najm crime scene.^[10]

Accused

Carlos Reales Dominguez

The suspect, 21 year old Carlos Reales Dominguez,^[12] is accused of two murders and one attempted murder. He had previously attended UC Davis until being academically dismissed on April 25, 2023, two days before Breaux’s body was found.^[13]

On May 3, 2023, Dominguez was arrested and held without bail^[14] after being spotted by at least 15 people who called the police tip line and reported that he matched the widely-circulated description of the assailant.^[15] Dominguez was located by police in the vicinity of Sycamore Park, the location of the Abou Najm murder. He was wearing the same clothes from the night of the attack on Guillory, which helped bystanders identify him. He had a large knife in his possession at the time of the stop, and police said he also had wounds on his hands and wrists.^[16]

During a competency hearing on July 27, 2023, a court-appointed psychologist described him as “a textbook example of schizophrenia.”^[17] Dominguez was found incompetent to stand trial, and in September he was moved to Atascadero State Hospital.^[18] His trial was placed on hold until he was treated and restored to competency.^[17]^[19]

On December 20, 2023, Dominguez was declared competent to stand trial, and returned to court on January 5, 2024.^[20] His trial was initially set to commence on June 18, 2024,^[21] but was later postponed tentatively to April 28, 2025, due to concerns about his mental fitness.^[22]

A student directory listed Dominguez as a sophomore studying biological sciences. Prior to that, he graduated from Castlemont High School in Oakland, California.^[23]

David Henry Breaux

David Henry Breaux (died April 27, 2023), better known as "the Compassion Guy", was an American activist^[24] and author in Davis, California. A homelessness man, Breaux had been known for his interactions with residents and passersby in Davis, where he habitually sat on a bench at the corner of Third and C streets and asked passersby to contribute to a notebook with their definition of compassion. In April 2023 he was murdered as the first victim in the stabbings.

Early life and education

Breaux's mother was a Jamaican immigrant who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His father was French-Creole and worked as a janitor and was physically and emotionally abusive. He had an older sister and an older brother.^[25]^[26] He was raised in Duarte, California.^[25]

Breaux graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in urban studies.^[25]

The compassion guy

After a breakup with a girlfriend, Breaux became dejected and began "searching for inspiration", according to the New York Times.^[25] He discovered the work of Karen Armstrong, who argued that "compassion was inherent to peace". He gave away his possessions and moved to Davis in 2009.^[25]

Breaux typically carried a notebook with him, and asked passersby to contribute to it by writing their definition of compassion. Local residents and workers at businesses in the area considered him "a communal therapist of sorts", according to the Times. He was known as "The Compassion Guy".^[24]

In 2010 Breaux self-published an e-book, Compassion: A Compilation of Concepts on Compassion, created from the contributions to his notebook.^[26] In the same year, a University of California Davis student created a documentary about Breaux.^[3]

In 2013 the city of Davis commissioned a bench to be created at the corner of Third and C streets, which members of the community turned into public art and included the words "Compassion is..."^[25] Breaux sat on the bench, known as the Compassion Bench, daily.^[26]