A Gonzales man faces more than 20 years in prison after being found guilty of stabbing animals in a school building in February 2023, Monterey County prosecutors said.
Jose Jesse Marquez, 31, was found guilty of four counts of animal cruelty with charges that the crime involved a deadly or dangerous weapon, felony assault on a police officer and misdemeanor burglary, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Wednesday . .
Monterey County Sheriff’s Office via KION-TV
At approximately 2:30 a.m. on February 18, 2023, Marquez reportedly rode his bicycle to Gonzales High School and entered the campus to grab tools. He then went to the barn and stabbed several animals, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Marquez held down 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 approached by police, Marquez refused to follow the officers’ orders and threatened to commit violence against one of them during jail booking.
Marquez faces about 20 years and four months in prison when he is sentenced June 4, prosecutors said.
Those with information about a case of animal abuse or neglect in Monterey County are asked to contact the District Attorney’s Office at (831) 755-5070 or their local police department.
