David Gutierrez’s mother said she wouldn’t forgive herself if she didn’t sit through the videos of her 15-year-old son being stabbed in the heart on Valentine’s Day at San Jose’s Santana Row mall — the opening moments of the murder trial of a boy even younger than him, a case raising questions about juvenile justice.
Veronica Gutierrez brought her husband, her sister and her mother for support, but when grainy security footage began to play during the prosecutor’s opening statement Monday, their sobs drowned out his voice.
“Can I have a moment your Honor?” Deputy District Attorney Vietnam Nguyen asked, then approached the family in the courtroom’s back row. “Do you still want to stay?”
They nodded through tears. The mother of the suspect, who wore a starched white shirt and v-neck sweater at the defense table, sat behind her son in the front row and she, too, wiped away tears.
And so began the murder trial of a boy who was 13 years old when he was arrested and charged with murder for David’s death on Feb. 14, 2025 — a case that galvanized debate between David’s family, who staged repeated protests demanding juvenile sentences be toughened, and youth advocates who say the purpose of juvenile sentencing laws is to rehabilitate, not punish.
If held responsible for the murder, the minor, who is now 14, faces 8 months in a youth ranch program — a possible sentence that San Jose’s police chief and Santa Clara County’s district attorney also complain is too lenient.
Prosecutors say David was jumped and beaten by the boy, along with a group of friends — all alleged gang members — because he was wearing a red jacket, a rival color. Police and David’s family say that David, a sophomore at Sequoia High in Redwood City, had no gang ties and was wearing the jacket to celebrate Valentine’s Day with his girlfriend, who wore a pink hoodie that night. Because they were too young to drive, David’s mother and stepfather dropped them off at the outdoor, upscale mall for a special dinner date.
The minor on trial in juvenile court is the only one of the group charged with murder. According to the police affidavit, after a security guard broke up the attack, the group fled. Videos played in court Monday show that the 13-year-old initially fled in an opposite direction, but when he turned to catch up with his friends moments later, he again encountered David, who had risen to his feet, and his girlfriend. The video, without sound, shows the three of them gesticulating at each other before the 13-year-old in red pants appears to charge David and stab him. David staggered away as the video cuts off.
David’s mother buried her head into her husband’s shoulders, trying to muffle her cries.
In her opening statement Monday, defense lawyer Jennifer Redding called the killing “nothing short of a tragedy.” But she also said her client had no intent to kill David. Instead, she suggested his girlfriend egged on the confrontation with the 13-year-old, telling the suspect “her boyfriend is going to kick his ass.”
The girlfriend is expected to testify Friday.
A possible line of defense emerged Monday afternoon when San Jose Police Officer Ibrahim Desouki testified that when he first watched surveillance footage from a Santana Row security camera that night, he thought it was possible that David also held a knife “by the way the arms were swinging.” He alerted his fellow officers on the scene, but said he was not aware that any other knife was found.
Law enforcement authorities have repeatedly said David was unarmed, so it’s not clear how that testimony might play out, or whether a closer examination of the video will bear that out. Prosecutor Nguyen asked the judge to strike that portion of the testimony, but the judge allowed it to stand.
Authorities have said that the group of suspected gang members started the evening at 6:30 by attacking a young man in a red jacket at Valley Fair across the street, beating him to the ground and stealing his shoe. They then walked to Santana Row where they encountered David. One of them, Emmanuel Sanchez-Damian was 18 at the time and is facing felony robbery and assault charges. One 16-year-old with no prior record was sentenced to 6-8 months at a youth ranch, while another with a history of misbehavior was given 2- to 4 years in a more secure facility.
Monday afternoon, Prosecutor Nguyen paused again before two other police officers took the stand — telling the family that this time, he would be projecting videos from body worn cameras as they rendered first aid to David.
Their cries pierced the courtroom again as they watched David lay on the sidewalk in front of Suspiro restaurant gasping for air, as police officers stripped off his shirt and revealed the puncture wound over his heart. They listened to David’s girlfriend, on her knees with his head in her hands, pleading with him, “look at me! Look at me, please! I’m right here!”
When the footage from Officer Matthew Porcelli’s body-worn camera ended and the officer left the stand, he asked the judge permission to approach the family to offer his condolences.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “God bless you all.”