Six months at youth camp for murder? DA and family of Santana Row teen stabbing victim reject possibility

The minute-long video clip from a surveillance camera at Santana Row is grainy and silent but it evidenced just enough for David Gutierrez s aunt sitting in the small courtroom at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall to let out a piercing wail The footage shown publicly in court for the first time last week stops before the -year-old is stabbed to death allegedly by an even younger boy But it affirmed what David s family had perpetually supposed the teen did nothing to provoke his attackers who surrounded him as he fiddled on his phone at an outdoor patio where he and his date awaited their Valentine s Day dinner reservation Police say his attackers saw the crimson jacket he wore for the romantic occasion as a rival gang color though he had no such affiliation The video evidenced the youngest a -year-old charged with David s murder throwing the first punch and his friends piling on the blows I feel like they were ripping my heart apart David s aunt Diana Gutierrez commented after watching the rain of punches on a courtroom screen during the trial of three of the teenagers at the time charged in juvenile court with assault They all have denied the charges The family was making funeral arrangements at the mortuary when they learned the news that would turn their heartbreak into activism Because the boy accused of killing David was just at the time he would face no more than six to eight months at a youth rehabilitation ranch if convicted That was the worst nightmare for me commented David s mother who declined to identify herself publicly in fear of gang retaliation To try to comprehend that this is the law and that we just have to accept it I m not going to accept it David Gutierrez s cousin Michelle Gutierrez left his stepfather Andrew Collins and his mother who did not want to give her name react as a memorial altar is set up in his honor at his home in Redwood City Calif on Wednesday July David Gutierrez was stabbed to death by a purported -year-old gang member at Santana Row while he was on a Valentine's Day date Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group That s when the entire family resolved to fight for tougher penalties for juvenile offenders But who would listen Related Articles Jury awards million award in wrongful death lawsuit involving Mountain View woman Would-be Sunnyvale jewelry store robbery thwarted by armed guards San Jose martial arts lecturer arrested on suspicion of possessing child sexual abuse materials Baby Phoenix fentanyl death New murder event for dad and his reputed dealer charged in other fatal child overdose South Bay man who sent Facebook message about committing a campus sexual assault pleads guilty With a bullhorn in hand Gutierrez a -year-old cosmetology learner staged protests from Santana Row to Sacramento often rallying two dozen friends and family as early as a m David s -year-old cousin Michelle Gutierrez printed T-shirts The family held a Zoom meeting with state Sen Dave Cortese and even persuaded San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and Police Chief Paul Joseph to visit their home so they could express their frustrations This past week they learned their efforts were eventually gaining traction Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen agreed that six to eight months at a youth ranch for a teen convicted in a fatal stabbing is not enough and he plans to fight for more A teenager murdering another teenager and being circulated while still a teenager is not justice full stop Rosen explained the Bay Area News Group in an interview And you re not rehabilitating the offender in a sparse months and you re not holding them accountable No trial date has been set in the murder episode The teenager whose name has been withheld by the courts because he is a minor has denied the charges His defense lawyers did not return messages Friday but he may claim self-defense According to a police affidavit David s girlfriend stated police that when David encountered the -year-old after the others ran off he was upset and demanded to fight one on one The teen declined saying he already got his hits in the affidavit reported but when David pressed him he took out his folding knife and stabbed David three times If the judge determines the teen murdered David Rosen stated he plans to recommend that he spend seven to years incarcerated at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall in the secure track initiative that would offer coaching and other programs But offenders must be to be eligible and the accused boy was when the crime occurred If the boy s defense lawyer balks Rosen commented he will appeal If the judge denies the appeal then I would seek regulation that allows for a longer period of confinement he noted But that would be too late for this development Rosen s intent to escalate the issue could be yet another test episode of the juvenile justice system that has swung from one extreme to the other over the past four decades Too a great number of young criminals were treated as adults in the s and s he commented and too insufficient face real consequences now I m interested in bill that helps bring the pendulum closer to the center a little more of an emphasis on accountability for the minor as a way of rehabilitating the minor revealed Rosen who doesn t inevitably backing stiffer sentences for criminals He was one of three district attorneys to backing the controversial Proposition which reduced certain nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors David s family disclosed they were heartened to have an ally in Rosen It means a lot that he is willing to fight with us Diana Gutierrez noted But keeping the teenager in Juvenile Hall for years still isn t enough for them They want the boy accused in David s murder to be treated as an adult something Rosen doesn t advocacy and plan to embark on an ambitious campaign to amend Proposition that was approved by voters in As they write on their protest signs Adult Crime Adult Consequences Diana Gutierrez left takes part in a rally with family members and supporters outside of the Santa Clara County Juvenile Center on Tuesday March in San Jose Calif Diana Gutierrez s nephew David Gutierrez was killed in a stabbing at Santa Row on Valentines Day Aric Crabb Bay Area News Group In California however minors can t be tried as adults if they are under age and as Proposition notes only judges not prosecutors have the discretion to decide whether to transfer - and -year-olds to adult court depending on the severity of the crime Along with the suspect charged with David s murder now in Juvenile Hall and the three on trial for his assault who are now and the fifth teenager police say was also involved in the beating is and faces felony assault charges in adult court They too have denied the charges If Judge Andrea Flint finds they are true however the teens could be sent to the youth ranch or face the secure track incarceration at Juvenile Hall since they are older than Their lawyers have all declined to comment Raj Jayadev coordinator of DeBug the San Jose civil rights district organization focusing on criminal justice restructuring reported there are good reasons not to charge even serious youth offenders as adults There necessities to be an emphasis on rehabilitative possibilities Jayadev announced Treating young people within the juvenile system rather than the adult system is allowing for that versus treating young people as adults and then essentially throwing their lives away It s laborious for David s family to be sympathetic to the young attackers when their own loved one s life was so senselessly ended The devout Catholic family keeps a memorial to him in the living room of their Peninsula home an altar in his memory with candles and flowers and photos of the Sequoia High School sophomore who loved to share special meals he cooked at home with his friends at school and train young boxers at the gym when the coach was away Photos of David Gutierrez candles mementos and flowers decorate a memorial altar in his honor set up at his home in Redwood City Calif on Wednesday July David Gutierrez was stabbed to death by a purported -year-old gang member at Santana Row while he was on a Valentine's Day date Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group In a portrait on the wall taken after a boxing tournament David is wearing a long gold necklace his parents gave him for his th birthday a recognition his mother noted of the fine young man he had become a good aspirant who was frequently complimented by his teachers The video played in court shows what appears to be one of the attackers yanking it off his neck Assistant District Attorney Allyson Ortega who is trying the affair paused the recording so the judge could see David s head jerk for a moment when the chain snapped off The family hoped for its return to place it on the living room altar But police never revealed it Marc Klaas who became an advocate for the three-strikes law after his -year-old daughter Polly was kidnapped and killed in Petaluma in by repeat criminal Richard Allen Davis explained he sympathizes with the family s need to change the system I doubt that there s any enjoyment in the activism that they re doing he disclosed but I think that there is therapy in it For Diana Gutierrez it s all she can do David requirements to mean something she noted He was too big too bright too special for it to just end there There s just no way it s going to end there Photos of David Gutierrez a boxing globe key chain and his middle school graduation hat hang on the wall at his home in Redwood City Calif on Wednesday July David Gutierrez was stabbed to death by a purported -year-old gang member at Santana Row while he was on a Valentine's Day date Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group