District Attorney’s Office declines to file charges against individual connected to recent stabbing
By Sam Catanzaro
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s office has opted to not file charges against an individual who stabbed a man to death in Santa Monica this week.
According to the Santa Monica Police Department, on June 21 around 7:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of Third Street and Broadway to investigate a report of a shot fired. When officers arrived on scene, they located a male with a stab wound to the neck. Officers immediately began rendering medical aid before Santa Monica Fire Department personnel arrived on scene and transported the victim to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Officers learned an altercation between the victim and a male and female began near the Santa Monica Pier and ended up in the 300 block of Broadway where the victim was stabbed, according to SMPD Lieutenant Rudy Flores.
“Witnesses who were with the victim provided a description of both subjects along with their last known direction of travel. At one point during this altercation, a shot was fired and a spent .45 cal casing was located. However, it is unclear who fired that round,” Flores said.
SMPD officers soon after established a perimeter and stopped two suspects–identified by witnesses–in the area of 6th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. According to Flores, they were taken into custody without incident.
Sean Alexander Graves, a 28-year-old male from Long beach was booked for murder. The female with Graves was interviewed then released, according to police.
On June 23 detectives from the SMPD Criminal Investigation Division presented the homicide case involving graves to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. According to the SMPD, the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against Graves “at this particular time” and he has since been released from custody.
“From when the incident occurred until the case was presented to the District Attorney’s Office, detectives reviewed numerous pieces of evidence including witness statements, evidence found at the crime scene, and video footage. Detectives determined that the individuals associated with the decedent were in possession of a handgun as they followed Graves and his female companion, and at some point, discharged that weapo,” Flores said in a statement. “Based on this information, the District Attorney’s Office believed that Graves may have acted in self-defense.”
According to Flores, the incident remains under investigation.
