Victim ID’d In Fatal Tesla Road Stabbing

DUBLIN, CA — Two Modesto residents arrested on suspicion of murder were booked Tuesday into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Daniel Gross, 19, and Melissa Jill Leonardo, 25, were arrested Monday afternoon at a home in Modesto in connection with the brutal beating and stabbing death of 19-year-old Tracy resident Lizette Cuesta.

The victim was found 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. Cuesta was spotted along the desolate road by UPS employee Richard Loadholt, who was on his way to work. KCRA reported that Loadholt tried to keep Cuesta awake and prayed with her while waiting for police and fire crews.

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. Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly told KCRA that Cuesta was likely tied up at some point during the attack. Cuesta was airlifted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where she was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m., Kelly said.

Before she died, Cuesta was able to give what Kelly described as "a very compelling dying declaration" about who stabbed her. Cuesta repeated the names of the suspects multiple times to her rescuers, according to KCRA. That information led them to arrest Gross and Leonardo in Modesto as suspects in her death, Kelly said.

Investigators haven't determined where the victim was stabbed, Kelly said. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office launched a homicide investigation and the California Highway Patrol closed a significant portion of Tesla Road between Interstate 580 near Tracy and Reuss Road near Livermore most of the day for the investigation.

Cuesta graduated from Silver Creek High in San Jose in 2016 and attended San Jose City College, according to her Facebook page. Gross and Leonardo, who are being held without bail, are scheduled to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

See Also:

• Tesla Road Stabbing Victim Crawled On Stomach For Help: ACSO
• Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing Remembered As ‘Bubbly'

Photos courtesy Alameda County Sheriff’s Office