Quick Take
Tyler Leibelt, the 19-year-old suspect in the Monday stabbing that killed 73-year-old Rachell Summers outside the Capitola Mall, will return to court on Wednesday for his arraignment, continued from this week. Court documents filed by the district attorney’s office show the suspect’s troubled history and sequence of events from the day of the crime.
The 19-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing a 73-year-old woman outside the Capitola Mall on Monday will be arraigned in Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Wednesday after his initial arraignment was continued from this week.
Tyler Leibelt of Santa Cruz is charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon, with an enhancement for lying in wait, which means hiding and waiting for a person with the intent to kill or inflict serious bodily harm to them. The victim, Rachell Summers, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the manager of the Art of Santa Cruz gallery located in the mall.
Leibelt’s attorney, public defender Lisa McCamey, was not immediately available for comment on the case, but a request from the district attorney’s office to deny Leibelt bail lays out the alleged sequence of events prior to and following the stabbing.
The filing states that Leibelt had been residing in a sober living environment and is a student at Cabrillo College majoring in accounting. It said Leibelt felt the desire to kill someone while in the college’s cafeteria, and that he said he knew he would kill someone when he turned his phone off. He then took a bus from the Aptos campus to the mall, went to the Big 5 Sporting Goods store on 41st Avenue and purchased two switchblade knives.
Leibelt walked back to the mall and contemplated killing numerous people, the documents state. First, he considered killing an older Asian man who was walking near him, but chose not to because of the number of cars around and the concern the man would fight back.
Leibelt then considered robbing the Macy’s store, and also thought of killing a family or someone in the food court, according to the filing. He did not because of the crowd present. The documents continued that he left the mall and considered killing a man in his car, but didn’t, as he was seated in the vehicle.
The filing says that Leibelt then saw a woman — Summers — on Clares Street and began to follow her with the knives concealed, putting some distance between the two of them so that Summers wouldn’t think he was following her. Leibelt soon chased her down and stabbed her more than 11 times in total, the filing states.
After Leibelt stabbed Summers, he ran through the mall’s food court and shopping areas, throwing the knife into a corner before exiting the mall, according to the filing. He then walked to a gas station, bought a drink and soon after called 911 to confess, saying that he wanted police to come so that he could turn himself in.
It isn’t the first time Leibelt has been in the local court system. On Nov. 7, 2025, when Leibelt was 18, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office requested a gun violence restraining order, citing that Leibelt “expressed a desire to cause a mass casualty event,” and that he had written a goodbye letter in which he said he had a desire to kill as many people as possible. Judge Nancy de la Peña issued the order on the same day.
The filing also says that, after Leibelt was arrested and booked, he told staff that he still had homicidal thoughts.
Leibelt’s arraignment is set for Wednesday, July 29, at 8:30 a.m.
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