Gonzales man sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for stabbing animals on school grounds – Salinas Valley Tribune

Lina Portman2 days ago

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GONZALES — A Gonzales man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after being convicted of stabbing animals inside school property in February 2023, Monterey County prosecutors said.

Jose Jesse Marquez, 31, was sentenced June 25 to 19 years and four months in prison, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said. Marquez had previously been convicted of four counts of animal abuse with a knife, resisting a police officer and burglary.

The court also found that the aggravations were due to a previous conviction and numerous aggravating factors.

“These convictions constitute four-count misdemeanor offenses under California's triple-misdemeanor statute, which ensures that the defendant faces life in prison if he commits another crime,” prosecutors said.

Authorities said that around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2023, Marquez rode his bicycle to Gonzales High School and entered the campus to get a tool. He then went to the barn area and stabbed several animals.

Marquez held down each animal, which had been raised since birth by Gonzales High School students, and repeatedly stabbed them eight to 10 times in the head and neck with such force that their skulls were shattered in multiple places.

Two lambs died, while another lamb and a pig survived.

Contacted by law enforcement, Marquez refused to comply with the officers' orders and threatened to commit violence against one of them during his incarceration.