California teen brutally killed while on Valentine’s Day date with his girlfriend in Santa Row mall stabbing

A teenager in California was brutally stabbed to death while on a date with his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. 

David Gutierrez, 15, was viscously attacked by a group of juveniles around 7.14pm on Friday at Santana Row, an upscale shopping mall in San Jose, according to police. 

The San Jose Police Department was called to the mall in response to a report of a fight involving multiple people. While on their way there, authorities were notified that someone had been stabbed. 

When officers arrived at the scene, they found Gutierrez suffering from at least one stab wound and started life saving measures, police said. 

The teen was then transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. 

The assailants fled the scene before officers arrived. Nobody has been taken into custody or charged in connection with the crime as of Wednesday.

Gutierrez’s grieving family said that he was celebrating the holiday with his partner when he was ‘beaten and then stabbed in the heart.’ 

‘David fought for his life but didn’t make it to surgery. We lost our boy,’ his aunt Diana Gutierrez wrote on a GoFundMe page. 

The donation page was created to help the teen’s family pay for his funeral expenses. As of Wednesday morning more than $27,400 had been pledged. 

Prior to his sudden death, Gutierrez was enrolled in college-bound classes and was active in community activities within his church, his family told KGO. 

The teen also loved to spend time at Gladiator’s Boxy Gym in Redwood City.

Berto Barrita, his boxing coach, told the outlet that Gutierrez was ‘friends with everyone here.’ 

‘He was a good kid, he was outgoing, friends with everybody here, all these young guys here was a friend of his,’ Barrita said. 

He added that Gutierrez never voiced any concerns about his safety. 

‘He joined because a lot of his friends would come here too and he just wanted to be with his friends, hang out, and box.’ 

His family has remembered him as ‘kind, empathetic, with a gentle demeanor.’ 

‘He was his family’s happy energy, whenever he walked into a room it simply lit up,’ they added. 

They also said they have no idea why anyone would want to hurt Gutierrez, adding: ‘We are at a complete loss and trying to process this incomprehensible act of violence.’ 

The San Jose Police Department has asked the public to help them identify anyone who was involved in the incident by contacting them or submitting an anonymous crime tip. 

DailyMail.com contacted the San Jose Police Department. 

A similar tragedy took place on April 7, when Robert Dean Maher, 14, was stabbed to death while trying to protect his girlfriend from a pair of juveniles at a mall.

The Wyoming teenager was pierced twice in the stomach with a stolen kitchen knife at Eastridge Mall in Casper. 

Dominique Antonio Richard Harris and Jarreth Joseflee Sabastian Plunkett, both 15, were arrested the same day near the mall.

Both Harris and Plunkett are being tried as adults, and at a preliminary hearing in June Harris pleaded not guilty to a number of charges including conspiracy to murder. 

His heartbroken girlfriend paid tribute to Maher at his vigil, as she called him ‘the bravest bot’ and ‘the best boyfriend’ who has ‘no hard feeling for anybody.’ 

‘Me and Bobby, we had so many plans for the future,’ she said through tears.