A Monterey County man was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after being found guilty of stabbing animals in a school building in February 2023, prosecutors said.
Gonzales resident Jose Jesse Marquez, 31, was sentenced Tuesday to 19 years and four months in prison, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said. Marquez was previously found guilty of four counts of animal cruelty with the use of a knife, resisting a police officer and burglary.
The court also found that enhancements for a prior strike conviction and numerous aggravation factors were true.
“These convictions constitute a four-strikes felony under California law, which means the defendant will face life behind bars if he commits another strike,” prosecutors said.
Authorities said Marquez rode his bicycle to Gonzales High School around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2023, and entered the campus to take tools. He then went to the barn and stabbed several animals. Marquez held each animal, which had been raised since birth by Gonzales High students, and repeatedly stabbed them eight to 10 times in the head and neck with such force that their skulls were fractured in multiple places.
Two lambs died, while another lamb and a pig survived.
When confronted by police, Marquez refused to comply with the officers’ commands and threatened to use force against one of them during his arrest.
