Campus safety at issue after stabbing
Suspect, 15, in court after one killed in class
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A Northern California school district will hear community concerns about campus safety Tuesday in the wake of a fatal stabbing at a high school, a day after the teenage suspect made his first appearance in court.
Prosecutors say the 15-year-old freshman fatally stabbed one classmate and injured another last week in self-defense during a fight inside a high school classroom. The attack stunned Santa Rosa.
The violence has prompted student protests and increased police presence at the Montgomery High School campus. About 200 students protested Monday during a walkout, saying school officials haven’t done enough to address safety on campus.
Although the teen was initially booked on felony charges of homicide, attempted homicide and having a weapon on a school campus last week, prosecutors instead brought a manslaughter charge because the teen appeared to be acting in self-defense, The Press Democrat reported.
The freshman appeared in court Monday on one count of voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for the use of a knife and one count of bringing a knife onto school grounds, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said. The teen remains in jail and is due to return to court Friday for a detention hearing.
“There was some action taken on the part of the victim that did mitigate the actions by the minor that we charged, but that we concluded did not rise to the level of complete self-defense,” Assistant District Attorney Brian Staebell said.
The altercation began when two groups of students were arguing last Wednesday outside a classroom. Once inside, a 16-year-old junior from one group confronted the freshman in the other group as more than two dozen students watched. A fight broke out, and the freshman stabbed the junior with a knife at least three times, Santa Rosa police said. The junior, Jayden Jess Pienta, later died.
School officials broke up the fight, but the freshman got into a brawl with another junior and stabbed him once in the hand, authorities said. The freshman was later found hiding in a creek bed.
“We are still investigating the motive, but we have no significant previous criminal contacts with any of the students involved in this incident,” Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said in an email Tuesday. “We are working to get school records and determine if (this) school had addressed issues between these students.”
Under state law, prosecutors can’t try anyone under age 16 as an adult, but proceedings for certain crimes — including homicide — perpetrated by juveniles must be held in open court. The teen’s attorney, the district and the Montgomery High principal did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The Associated Press isn’t identifying the teen because he is a juvenile.