GONZALES — Gonzales resident Jose Marquez, 31, was found guilty of animal abuse with an allegation that the crime involved a deadly or dangerous weapon, resisting a police officer and burglary, all of which are felonies.
A Monterey County judge further found true enhancements for a prior strike conviction and numerous factors in aggravation.
These convictions constitute four strike offenses under California’s three strikes law, which directs that Marquez will face life behind bars if he commits another strike. He faces about 20 years and four months in prison when he is sentenced on June 4.
At about 2:29 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2023, Marquez rode his bicycle to Gonzales High School and entered the property to take a tool. He approached the barn area and stabbed multiple animals belonging to the school’s 4-H students. Two lambs died, one lamb survived and one pig survived.
“He held down each animal, who had been raised since birth by children at Gonzales High, repeatedly stabbed them eight to 10 times in the head and neck with such force their skulls were broken in multiple places,” according to an April 17 news release from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
When contacted by law enforcement, Marquez refused to comply with officers’ orders and threatened to commit violence toward an officer at booking, the DA’s stated.
