A year before the 13-year-old was accused of the Valentine’s Day stabbing death of another boy at Santana Row shopping mall, he had already been the victim of a stabbing himself.
During the teen’s murder trial in Santa Clara County juvenile court this week, his defense lawyers said he had been found in October 2023, lying on his back on a sidewalk with a stab wound to his bicep.
The revelation came during the trial’s final day of testimony in a case that has garnered intense interest because the suspect and the victim — 15-year-old David Gutierrez — were both so young. It has raised questions about consequences for violent offenders in the juvenile justice system — David’s family has staged regular protests over what they consider a lenient possible penalty for the accused teen.
The defense tried to make the case that the teen had endured past trauma that made his under-developed, adolescent brain more prone to impulsive actions. The past stabbing also factored into a self-defense case, Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Redding told the judge, because “any reaction” he had to the victim “would be because of previously being stabbed.”
Redding asked Judge Andrea Flint, who is presiding over the trial, to admit into evidence a medical examiner’s report about the past stabbing. The judge agreed, despite Deputy District Attorney Viet Nguyen’s objections. He argued that Redding provided no evidence that the past stabbing was so traumatizing it actually affected his emotions or behavior the night of the Valentine’s Day stabbing.
The mother of David Gutierrez, takes part in a rally with family members and supporters outside of the Santa Clara County Juvenile Center on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in San Jose, Calif. David Gutierrez ,15, was killed in a stabbing at Santa Row on Valentines Day. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
If Judge Flint finds the teen responsible for murder — there is no jury — he may serve no more than 8 months at a youth ranch because he was only 13 at the time of the crime. Under California law, more severe penalties kick in at 16. The Bay Area News Group is not naming the teen, who is now 14, because he is a minor and his identity is protected by juvenile court.
The teen, who was 13 years old at the time of the stabbing, was part of a group of suspected gang members who jumped David at the upscale shopping mall on Feb. 14, 2025, because he was wearing a rival gang color, authorities say. But his family and police say he had no gang affiliation and was wearing a red jacket to celebrate the holiday.
Redding, the defense lawyer, provided no more details of the teen’s past stabbing wound or the circumstances that led to it. But in court Monday, she suggested that the past stabbing plus David’s actions might have made her client more prone to act: a San Jose Police officer had testified that when he first watched security footage from a Santana Row camera, he suspected David had a knife because of the way he was waving his arms.
David’s girlfriend, however, testified David had no weapon, and a police technician looking in bushes and garbage cans in the area testified he found no evidence of one.
Nonetheless, Redding suggested in court that her client also might have believed David was armed because of “the way David was moving.”
It does not appear the suspect will take the witness stand. Redding told the judge Monday she had no plans to offer more witnesses before closing arguments are scheduled for May 18.
One of her last witnesses on Monday was an expert in the brain development of adolescents. Dr. Artha Gillis, a juvenile forensic psychiatrist who works at UCLA and in private practice, testified that adolescents, especially those between the ages of 10 and 13, “don’t have full capacity to assess what a threat is” because their prefrontal cortex is not fully developed. Difficult life experiences, including violence, neglect and family dysfunction, can all delay the brain’s development and “overwhelm a child’s ability to cope with stressors,” she said.
“They can overvalue threats,” said Gillis, who had not personally evaluated the minor. “They may see things as threatening that you or I might not see as threatening.”
Last week, the teen’s older sister testified for the defense, saying that their father had been in a gang and was incarcerated and that her brother had trouble in school and had spent time in foster care. The teen’s mother has been a regular presence during the trial, as well as David’s mother and family.
During the course of the trial, videos played in court showed that a group of suspected gang members beat up and stole the shoe of an unsuspecting shopper at Valley Fair mall, then headed across the street to Santana Row where they confronted David, who was awaiting a Valentine’s Day dinner reservation near the El Jardin Restaurant.
The 13-year-old threw the first punch, the videos showed, and the others piled on. The attackers fled when a security guard broke it up. But the 13-year-old, the youngest of the group, ran in the opposite direction. A moment later, when the 13-year-old encountered David and his girlfriend again and the suspect asked where his friends had gone, the girlfriend testified, the fatal encounter occurred.
According to police reports, the girlfriend told police that night that David had challenged the 13-year-old to a “one-on-one,” but that the teen responded that he already got his “hits in.” During emotional testimony on the witness stand last month, the girlfriend said she didn’t remember any of that.
Security footage played during the trial, which had no audio, shows David and his girlfriend and the suspect gesticulating towards each other in the fountain plaza next to the movie theaters when the suspect lunges toward David. David then stumbled off screen, where he collapsed.
According to testimony Monday, David had been stabbed at least three times, twice in his arm and once in his chest, which punctured his heart and caused his death.