Motive Sought in Death of Corona Student Who Was Chased, Stabbed

The fatal stabbing in Corona this week of a student by three youths has stunned the boy’s school.

Dominic Redd, 15, was walking through a neighborhood near his school Wednesday afternoon when three boys began chasing him on foot, police said. Redd eluded the assailants, but the attackers caught up with him in the Contadora condominium complex and stabbed him multiple times, said Corona Police Sgt. Jerry Rodriguez.

Redd died later at Riverside Community Hospital.

Police have no motive for the attack, and “don’t know if it is racially motivated, don’t know if it is gang-related,” Rodriguez said.

The assailants were described by a witness as being Latino. Redd was African American. It is unknown whether the three, believed to be 15 to 16 years old, are students at Centennial High School where Redd was a freshman.

“There is no evidence to connect this incident with anything that happened at Centennial,” Rodriguez said. There are “a lot of rumors circulating that we’re trying to quell.”

In March 2004, 12 Centennial students were arrested in a brawl that some students think was race-related. Of the school’s 2,400 students, nearly half are Latino, 30% white, 10% African American and 7% Asian.

Corona police beefed up security at the school this week, and were questioning students, friends and Redd’s family.

Sharon Stanton, an administrator with the Corona-Norco Unified School District, says she does not believe gangs are a problem at Centennial.

The mood at the school was somber Friday.

“We’re in a state of shock,” Stanton said. Redd, a running back for the Centennial Huskies, was a “pretty popular kid,” she said.

Coaches had moved Redd up from the freshman squad to play in the final championship games of the season. The Huskies beat their crosstown rivals from Norco High, winning the California Interscholastic Federation’s Division V title last fall.

Centennial students plan to hold a fundraising barbecue and carwash at the school Sunday to help Redd’s family.

The students are seeking to honor Redd’s memory, said Centennial algebra teacher Richard Angulo. “They’ve said, ‘Hey, guys, what would Dominic want to do in this situation?’ ”

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of the killers. Anyone with information is asked to call the Corona Police Department at (951) 817-5837.