Surveillance images show what happened before Santana Row Valentine's Day killing ...Middle East

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) - Santana Row in San Jose was bustling with couples who were out for romantic dates and heading to restaurants with dinner reservations on Valentine's Day. One of those couples included a boy and girl, both 15 years old. The boy, David S. Gutierrez of Redwood City, surprised his girlfriend by taking her out to a restaurant, the girl told police.

Several surveillance cameras positioned on buildings and corners overlooking Santana Row recorded Gutierrez's last evening alive. The cameras also recorded a group of teenaged gang members. San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph said the group was "actively seeking a confrontation."

The youngest of the gang members -- a 13-year-old boy -- brutally stabbed Gutierrez to death with a knife in front of his girlfriend, investigators said.

Santa Clara County court documents and surveillance images obtained by KRON4 reveal what allegedly led up to the shocking homicide.

One image shows the five teenaged suspects entering Cinemark Santana Row movie theater at 6:55 p.m. Four of the boys are wearing red clothing to disguise themselves as Norteno gang members, detectives said. In fact, the group is part of a Sureno street gang that wears blue, according to detectives. They left minutes later after using the theater's bathroom and drinking fountain.

Gutierrez was standing outside El Jardin Restaurant at 7:12 p.m. He was wearing solid red Nike shoes, a red jacket, tan jeans, a CMC belt, and a black puffer jacket. The group confronted the lone boy and attacked him until a security guard intervened.

According to Gutierrez's girlfriend, one boy in the group asked, “Why he was wearing red?" A security guard heard the group saying, "F**k your colors” and cussing at the victim. The victim was laying on the ground in a defensive position as the group punched and kicked him, court documents state.

The guard "started to break up the fight and pushing and pulling people apart," court documents state.

While four boys in the group, ages 18-16, fled from the assault scene on foot, the 13-year-old boy stayed behind. One minute later, the 13-year-old boy pulled out a knife and stabbed Gutierrez three times.

The victim's family said Gutierrez, a Sequoia High School student, was stabbed through the heart.

San Jose's police chief said Gutierrez had zero ties to gangs, and he was "tragically just in the wrong place at the wrong time." His youthful killer hid the knife and ran away from the homicide scene.

Gutierrez's girlfriend and other witnesses attempted CPR until paramedics arrived. He was declared deceased at a hospital.

Days after the Valentine's killing, police arrested a 13-year-old boy on suspicion of murder. Three 16-year-old San Jose boys were booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall for assault. 

The only adult arrested in the Valentine's case, 18-year-old Emanuel Sanchez-Damian of Campbell, looked nervous when he made his first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon. Sanchez-Damian is charged with assaulting Gutierrez before the victim was slain.

Despite objections from his defense attorney, a judge denied granting bail and set Sanchez-Damian's arraignment for May 15. The judge said Sanchez-Damian is too dangerous to be freed from custody pending trial.

Sanchez-Damian is also charged with robbing a second victim inside Valley Fair mall. A prosecutor said the victim was beaten by the group not long before Gutierrez was attacked on Santana Row. The mall's surveillance cameras showed the group attacking the second victim and stealing his sneakers at 6:41 p.m.

"All five suspects began to assault, kick, stomp, knee, and strike the victim while he is onthe ground," court documents state.

Prosecutors added gang enhancements to charges filed against Sanchez-Damian Tuesday.

Joseph said his officers are seeing a disturbing pattern with gangs using their youngest members as "killing tools." More juveniles are "committing more violent crimes without recourse. The killing tool of choice is now a juvenile," the police chief siad.

If a 13-year-old suspect is found guilty of murder, he will likely serve just eight months in an unlocked ranch facility, Joseph said.  "Young offenders who take life, commit murder, or other atrocities face only a few months … or maybe a handful of years … in custody before they are released back into our neighborhoods," Joseph said.

San Jose Police Department gang unit detectives initially thought the group who ambushed Gutierrez were Nortenos because they were wearing red. After finding, questioning, and arresting the five suspects, detectives realized that red clothing was used as a ruse by Surenos, who typically wear blue, to disguise their true affiliation, detectives wrote in court documents.

"Emanuel Sanchez-Damien is a documented Varrio Sureno Town (VST) Sureno gang member," court documents state.

The Varrio Sureno Town gang, aka the Malos, has a history of stealing "rival gang attire as a sign of dominance (and) keeping such items as trophies or mementos of past conflicts," detectives wrote in court documents.

Detectives also found photographs of the boys through their parents' Instagram accounts showing the teens wearing blue.

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