Candlelight Vigil Planned For Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing

TRACY, CA — A candlelight vigil is planned tonight in Tracy to remember a woman who died after she was beaten, stabbed and left for dead near a desolate road in Livermore early Monday morning. Friends will gather at the Tracy City Hall at 6 p.m. to mourn the loss of 19-year-old Lizette Cuesta.

Her death made national headlines this week because investigators say she crawled on her stomach at least 100 yards in the cold and dark to get help. Cuesta was found on Tesla Road about two miles west of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area by UPS employee Richard Loadholt, who was on his way to work.

Before she died, Cuesta was able to give what Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly described as "a very compelling dying declaration" about who stabbed her. Cuesta repeated the names of the alleged attackers multiple times to her rescuers, according to a KCRA report. She was airlifted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where she was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m.

Cuesta’s information led the investigators to arrest Daniel Gross, 19, and Melissa Jill Leonardo, 25, on suspicion of murder in Modesto Monday afternoon, Kelly said. Gross and Leonardo are being held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. They were arraigned on murder charges Wednesday afternoon and will be back in court in March.

Friends and family held a vigil for Cuesta at Great Oaks Park in San Jose Tuesday night. Cuesta was an avid skateboarder who graduated from Silver Creek High in San Jose in 2016 and attended San Jose City College, according to her Facebook page. A GoFundMe fundraising campaign launched on Feb. 13 has garnered almost $18,000 in donations so far.

On Wednesday, Daniel Gross told a KTVU reporter that he and Cuesta were co-workers, friends and had a consensual sexual relationship with each other. Although Gross was not specific about where they were during the alleged attack, he did claim he was in the backseat of a car with Cuesta earlier while his girlfriend, Leonardo, drove. Gross told KTVU he was not mad at Cuesta upon learning that she identified him and Leonardo as suspects and claims Leonardo had nothing to do with the killing for which they are both accused. The charging document filed by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office alleges that Gross was the person who fatally stabbed Cuesta. Read the full KTVU story here.

Previous coverage:

• Tesla Road Stabbing Victim Crawled On Stomach For Help: ACSO
  
• Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing Remembered As ‘Bubbly'
• Pair Arraigned For Fatal Stabbing Of Woman Found In Livermore
  
• Man Accused In Fatal Tesla Stabbing Claims Self-Defense
  
• Mother Of Man Accused In Tesla Road Stabbing Blames Girlfriend

Photo courtesy Alameda County Sheriff's Office

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