Man Accused In Fatal Tesla Stabbing Claims Self-Defense

DUBLIN, CA — Modesto resident Daniel Gross, 19, told a KTVU reporter Wednesday that he and 19-year-old Lizette Cuesta were co-workers, friends and had a consensual sexual relationship with each other. Cuesta died early Monday morning after she was beaten, stabbed and left for dead near a desolate road in Livermore. Gross is in jail accused of killing her.

During a jailhouse interview with KTVU, Gross alleges that before the stabbing, Cuesta provoked him by elbowing him. He said he knew she was carrying a knife he had given her to use to defend herself when she was out skateboarding.

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, Melissa Jill Leonardo, 25, who is also in jail and charged with murder, 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.

Cuesta was discovered near mile marker 8.49 on Tesla Road about two miles west of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area at about 2 a.m. Monday by UPS employee Richard Loadholt, who was on his way to work. Officials said Cuesta, who was dumped and left for dead, crawled on her stomach at least 100 yards in the dark in an effort to get help when Loadholt spotted her bleeding on the side of the rural road. She was airlifted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where she was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m.

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 KCRA.

That information led them 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 Wednesday.

About a dozen of Cuesta's family members came to court during the arraignment. One of Cuesta's male relatives yelled at Gross when he appeared and a female relative yelled at Leonardo when she appeared.

Friends who gathered during a candlelight vigil was held in at Great Oaks Park in San Jose Tuesday night told ABC7 they will remember Cuesta being "bubbly" and "genuine." A GoFundMe fundraising campaign launched on Feb. 13 has garnered more than $8,000 in donations so far. Cuesta graduated from Silver Creek High in San Jose in 2016 and attended San Jose City College, according to her Facebook page.

Previous coverage:

• Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing Remembered As 'Bubbly'
• Pair Arraigned For Fatal Stabbing Of Woman Found In Livermore
• Tesla Road Stabbing Victim Crawled On Stomach For Help: ACSO

Photo courtesy Alameda County Sheriff’s Office

Bay City News contributed to this report