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The quiet town of Davis has been rattled by a shocking spate of violence: two fatal stabbings in less than week.
The first killing occurred Thursday in Central Park. At about 11:30 a.m., a good Samaritan called in a report of an unresponsive man on a bench. When first responders arrived, they discovered the man had been stabbed repeatedly and was deceased.
The Yolo County coroner identified the man as David Henry Breaux, 50. Breaux was “a well-known community member and… a regular fixture in the downtown area and at Central Park for at least the last decade,” the city of Davis said in a statement. The Stanford graduate was known for asking people for their definitions of compassion and noting them down as he went.
“The death of David Breaux is utterly and completely devastating,” Mayor Will Arnold said in a statement. “… We shared in his vision for a kinder world. We connected on what it means to be human and humane. David was gentle and kind, soft-spoken and thoughtful, brilliant and selfless. He will be missed.”
The second killing happened Saturday at about 9 p.m. According to Davis police, a resident heard what sounded like a scuffle in Sycamore Park, a community space about a 5-minute drive from Central Park. When the individual went to see what was happening, they found a man in his 20s bleeding from multiple stab wounds. First responders were unable to resuscitate the man, who died at the scene.
On Sunday, police identified the Sycamore Park victim as Karim Abou Najm, 20, a senior computer science major at UC Davis. His father is a professor at UCD, and Najm reportedly grew up in town.
“He’s the most pleasant, the most loving, one of the smartest kids I’ve ever seen,” his father told the Davis Enterprise. “He was looking forward to graduating and starting his future.”
According to a statement from Davis police, investigators are probing whether the two killings are linked. There is no suspect description in the Central Park killing, but Davis police say a male between 19 and 23 years old with “long curly loose hair” is their primary suspect at the Sycamore Park scene; police said the man was wearing a “white hat, a light-colored T-shirt, and a button-up shirt over it, and riding a men’s bike with straight handlebars.”
The city of Davis saw zero homicides in 2016, one in 2017, two in 2018 and three in 2019, the most recent year for which the police department provides data. The Davis Enterprise reported there were no homicides in the past three years.
“At this time, we do strongly recommend the community remain vigilant, be aware of their surroundings,” Davis police said.
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