Funeral Held For Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing

LIVERMORE, CA — Funeral services were held Tuesday in San Jose for a Tracy woman who died after she was beaten, stabbed and left for dead near a desolate road in Livermore last month. Lizette Cuesta’s death made national headlines after she was discovered near mile marker 8.49 on Tesla Road about two miles west of the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area at about 2 a.m. on Feb. 12 by UPS employee Richard Loadholt, who was on his way to work.

Officials said 19-year-old Cuesta, who was dumped and left for dead, crawled on her stomach at least 100 yards in the cold and dark in an effort to get help when Loadholt spotted her bleeding on the side of the rural road. She was airlifted to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where she was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m.

Before she died, Cuesta was able to give what Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly described as "a very compelling dying declaration" about who stabbed her. Cuesta repeated the names of the alleged attackers multiple times to her rescuers, according to KCRA.

That information led them to arrest Daniel Gross and Melissa Jill Leonardo on suspicion of murder in Modesto that afternoon, Kelly said. Gross and Leonardo are being held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. They will be back in court later this month.

Friends who gathered during a candlelight vigil held at Great Oaks Park in San Jose the next night told ABC7 they will remember Cuesta being "bubbly" and "genuine." A second vigil was held in Tracy on Feb. 17.

A GoFundMe fundraising campaign launched on Feb. 13 has garnered more than $23,000 in donations so far. Cuesta graduated from Silver Creek High in San Jose in 2016 and attended San Jose City College, according to her Facebook page.

During a jailhouse interview two days after his arrest, Gross told a KTVU reporter that he and Cuesta were co-workers, friends and had a consensual sexual relationship with each other. Although Gross was not specific about where they were during the alleged attack, he did claim he was in the backseat of a car with Cuesta earlier while his girlfriend, Leonardo, drove. Gross told KTVU he was not mad at Cuesta upon learning that she identified him and Leonardo as suspects and claims Leonardo had nothing to do with the killing for which they are both accused. The charging document filed by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office alleges that Gross was the person who fatally stabbed Cuesta. Read the full KTVU story here.

Previous coverage:

• Tesla Road Stabbing Victim Crawled On Stomach For Help: ACSO
• Woman Killed In Tesla Road Stabbing Remembered As 'Bubbly'
• Pair Arraigned For Fatal Stabbing Of Woman Found In Livermore
• Man Accused In Fatal Tesla Stabbing Claims Self-Defense
• Mother Of Man Accused In Tesla Road Stabbing Blames Girlfriend

Photo courtesy GoFundMe
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