Court documents reveal that Tyler Leibelt, 19, told prosecutors he had “sustained thoughts and fantasies about murdering someone” and “has had them since puberty.”
Tyler Leibelt, 19, faces California murder charges in the random stabbing of Rachell Summers, 73, in the Capitola Mall parking lot near Santa Cruz.
The suspect was already free on bail awaiting trial in another felony case when Summers was killed, a detail that has intensified criticism from those who argue California’s criminal justice system is too lenient on dangerous offenders.
At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said the suspect told investigators, “He indicated that he had had homicidal fantasies for awhile and that he had previously disclosed these fantasies but he ‘kept getting let out’ of custody.”
Leibelt was a Cabrillo College student with a juvenile criminal record, according to reports and court records.
According to prosecutors, Leibelt had been living in a sober living environment and took an Uber to Cabrillo College, where he is an accounting student, on Monday. While sitting in the college cafeteria, court documents say Leibelt felt a long-standing “desire to kill someone.”
He turned off his cellphone deliberately.
The documents say Leibelt told investigators it was a “done deal” that he was going to kill someone once he turned off his cellphone because he did not want to be interrupted.
Prosecutors allege Leibelt then boarded a METRO bus to the Capitola Mall, where he was actively looking for a victim before entering a Big 5 Sporting Goods store and purchasing two switchblade knives.
He bought “two knives so that he could hold one in each hand as he was killing someone,” police said.
He weighed several targets before choosing.
Before encountering Summers, Leibelt allegedly walked with an elderly Asian man across the street and considered attacking him but decided against it because there were too many cars nearby and he believed the man might put up too much of a fight, KSBW reported.
He also allegedly had the thought of killing a family at the food court but decided against it because of the crowd.
Prosecutors say Leibelt then spotted Summers near the Capitola Mall driveway as she walked toward Trader Joe’s on Clares Street. He allegedly moved closer, walked in a semicircle around Summers with a concealed knife and allowed her to get ahead so she would not realize she was being followed.
The court document says Summers was stabbed a total of 11 times in the back and center chest, and suffered defensive stab wounds.
Leibelt told police that she said, “Help me,” Police said Leibelt stabbed Summers 11 times before he ran to a gas station, still covered in blood, and bought a drink.
Leibelt then called police to tell them what he did.
Even jailed, his homicidal thoughts persisted.
The filing also says that, after Leibelt was arrested and booked, he told staff that he still had homicidal thoughts.
Court documents also showed that the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office requested a gun violence restraining order in November 2025, when Leibelt was 18, citing that he had “expressed a desire to cause a mass casualty event.” He had also allegedly written a goodbye letter in which he said he had a desire to kill as many people as possible.
Additionally, Tyler has multiple (instances) of violence towards others, including a violent sexual assault against a disabled minor,” a sheriff’s deputy wrote in the restraining order request.
In the viral moment on Monday, July 20,
Rachell Summers, 73, who was remembered by friends and coworkers as a selfless and gentle presence in the community, was stabbed to death outside the Capitola Mall in an attack police have described as completely random.
Rachell Summers died after suffering multiple stab wounds near the mall’s food court exit, according to the Capitola Police Department. Officers responded to the area around 12:47 pm and attempted lifesaving measures, but Summers was pronounced dead at the scene.
Summers, 73, managed Art of Santa Cruz, a nonprofit gallery inside the California mall, and was remembered by those who knew her as a generous presence in the local arts community.
She became a grandmother for the first time last year and was working on an illustrated children’s book.
“I’m the president [of the gallery], but she was my right hand person for sure, and got things very organized and under control,” Heather Richman, president of Art of Santa Cruz and Summers’ friend and manager, told The California Post.
The gallery wrote in an Instagram post, “We are mourning the loss of our gallery manager, Rachell Summers.”
Several people described her as friendly and welcoming, with one commenter saying she had recently helped them with an orchid print they were preparing. “She was such a delight to talk with every time I went in,” another person wrote.
Friends described Summers as the “sweetest little old lady” who loved her grandson’s smile more than anything. She told one of the gallery’s artists that she was planning to buy him a new handmade baby blanket as a present.
He is due back in court August 19.