Quick Take
The Santa Cruz 19-year-old accused of murdering a 73-year-old Capitola woman outside of the Capitola Mall in July will return to court on Oct. 8 for a preliminary hearing.
Tyler Leibelt, the Santa Cruz 19-year-old accused of murdering 73-year-old Rachell Summers outside the Capitola Mall last month, pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to murder and other charges, and denied the allegations and enhancements filed against him, his defense team said in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
He is due back in court on Oct. 8 for a preliminary hearing.
Leibelt is charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon, with an enhancement for lying in wait – in other words, hiding and waiting for a person with the intent to kill or inflict serious bodily harm to them.
Leibelt was arrested in late July after he allegedly stabbed and killed Rachell Summers of Capitola outside the mall in what investigators believe to be a random act of violence. Summers was the manager of the Art of Santa Cruz gallery in the mall.
Documents previously filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court showed that Leibelt said that he had the desire to kill someone and had considered killing multiple other people, as well as robbing the Macy’s store, before eventually stabbing Summers. He called 911 shortly after to confess and say that he wanted police to come so that he could turn himself in. After Leibelt was arrested, he had told staff that he still had homicidal thoughts, according to the court filing.
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.
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