Santa Rosa teen arrested in August in shooting linked to fatal 2023 school stabbing

An 18-year-old man was arrested this week on suspicion of shooting another man in Santa Rosa earlier this year was also involved in events leading to the fatal stabbing of a student in 2023 at Montgomery High School.

Police believe Juan Carlos Cruz, a Santa Rosa resident, fired two shots at a driver on Aug. 13 on Sunset Avenue, a block south of Sebastopol Road, police Sgt. said Patricia Seffens. The driver was treated at an area hospital for life-threatening injuries and later released.

Officers arrested Cruz at his work in Windsor on Wednesday after a months-long investigation.

Police said they found a loaded handgun in his employee safe there and later recovered ammunition at his Santa Rosa home.

They believe the August shooting was gang-related, as the driver was wearing clothing associated with gang activity and was in an area known for the presence of rival gangs.

Cruz was booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of four felonies: attempted murder, assault with a firearm, carrying a firearm with intent to commit a felony and carrying a concealed firearm.

He is being held without bail and will appear in Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday.

Santa Rosa City Schools named Cruz and his mother, Maria Cervantes, as cross-suspects in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the district by the family of Jayden Pienta, who died after being stabbed during a classroom fight on March 1, 2023.

The district alleges that Pienta and Cruz, then 16 years old, entered the classroom and confronted another student, Daniel Pulido, who was accused of stabbing Pienta in the chest and back.

Pienta died at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Cruz also had injuries, but they were not considered serious.

In November 2023, Sonoma County Juvenile Court Judge Ken Gnoss concluded that Pulido was not responsible for Pienta’s death but found him responsible for bringing a weapon to campus.

Gnoss said Pienta was the “aggressor” in the fight and that he and Cruz planned to attack Pulido.

The lawsuit is still moving through the courts and the next hearing is scheduled for January.

You can reach staff writer Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.