Mother of suspect insists son, 19, is not guilty

DUBLIN » The mother of the Modesto man accused of mortally stabbing a young Tracy woman and dumping her on a lonely road to die is pointing the finger at her son’s fiancee and insisting he isn’t guilty.

“Daniel is not the guilty one in this incident. It’s all Melissa. There were things said beforehand and I didn’t make two and two together, until after… of who it was,” said Tracy Gross, mother of Daniel Gross, 19, of Modesto in a brief statement to this newspaper Wednesday night.

Tracy Gross declined to comment further on Thursday when she appeared alongside other familymembers at the East County Hall of Justice in support of her son, who has been charged with murder for the death of 19-year- old Lizette Cuesta. His fiancee, Melissa Leonardo, 25, has also been charged with Cuesta’s murder. In addition, Gross has been charged with the special allegation of the use of a deadly weapon, a knife, and causing great bodily injury to Cuesta.

But Tracy Gross earlier told ABC7 that Leonardo was “the mastermind of it” all. She said it was known that Cuesta “adored” her son when they all worked together at the Carl’s Jr. in Tracy.

“I know if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have done it. She’s just as guilty as he is. And I think she’s the one that did it, because of her jealously,” she told the news station.

“I wake up with nightmares thinking of what that girl went through,” she said, crying. “And I can’t believe my son had anything to do with it.”

Both Gross and Leonardo appeared in court separately Thursday before Judge Gordon Baranco in red jail clothes. He was handcuffed to shackles around his waist. Both defendant’s had their cases continued to March 16 for entry of pleas.

Cuesta died from multiple stab wounds Monday, after she was discovered by amotorist about 2 a.m. in a remote stretch of Tesla Road in unincorporated area of Alameda County. Investigators believe she had managed to crawl a hundred yards from where she was apparently dumped, before she was found, said Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly.

Her final words led investigators to Gross and Leonardo, Kelly said, and they were arrested around 1:15 p.m. Monday, less than 12 hours after Cuesta was found.

Authorities said that the two defendants knew Cuesta, and she had gone with them willingly, Kelly said.

In a jailhouse interview earlier this week with KTVU, Gross said that he “snapped” and never meant to hurt or kill Cuesta.

“I didn’t plan to do this at all,” Gross told the television station.

He told KTVU that he acted in self- defense after Cuesta elbowed him in the ribs, and that the confrontation happened somewhere in Livermore after he and Cuesta had had sex in the back of Leonardo’s car as Leonardo drove. All three had smoked marijuana that night, he told KTVU.

“I don’t know that you can believe everything he says. His statement could be self-serving to minimize his culpability,” Kelly said, adding that the case is built on the victim’s dying declaration to a Good Samaritan and first responders as well as evidence collected on Tesla Road and in Modesto.

Although Gross in his TV interview claimed he did not plan to kill Cuesta, charging documents allege the murder was premeditated.

Daniel Shriro, attorney for Leonardo, said he has not received any information such as police reports or discovery about the case yet.

“She’s scared and frightened by all this. This is a terrible situation for her,” he said Thursday.

Gross’ attorney, Brian Bloom, refused to comment.

Unlike the couple’s first court appearance Wednesday, when several family members showed up and had emotional outbursts during the proceedings, just one family member of Cuesta’s appeared, but did not speak during court, or after.

In a phone interview, Gross’ former girlfriend, Jacqueline Bowman, said she briefly dated him for several months in 2016 and shares a child with him, a 10-month-old boy. Bowman said she doesn’t know what to believe now with the allegations surrounding him.

“He said he wanted to change his life for the better,” she said.

Bowman said Gross is expecting another child, with Leonardo, who is due in June.

Montana Howland, a friend of Leonardo’s who considers her a sister, said that he doesn’t believe Leonardo would kill anyone.

“Daniel was more of the controlling type. Always had to have his weed, always had to have something, wouldn’t go anywhere without Melissa,” Howland said. “Daniel is the one who would physically get involved with something.”

Cuesta graduated from Silver Creek High School in San Jose in 2016. Marina Carranza, Cuesta’s aunt, said that Cuesta grew up in San Jose and her family had moved to Tracy three months ago. Cuesta had liked riding horses on their family’s ranch in Stockton on the weekends.