Teen charged as adult with 2 alleged gang members in fatal stabbing in SJ

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Two men and a 14-year-old boy charged in the fatal stabbing of a man in downtown San Jose appeared in court Thursday after prosecutors decided to charge the teen as an adult, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Luis Garcia, 21, Luis Alvarez, 20, and Marvin Garcia, 14, all of San Jose, were present in Superior Court in San Jose before Judge Sheyna Brown but did not enter pleas to murder charges with gang enhancements, Deputy District Attorney Charles Gillingham said.

After hearing the lawyers for each of the three defendants introduce themselves, Brown agreed with the attorneys to set the next hearing in the case for Sept. 3.

Prosecutors allege that the trio took part in the stabbing death of 33-year-old Oakland resident Michael Maynard in the vicinity of South Market Street and Park Avenue in downtown San Jose at around 2 a.m. on July 29.

According to San Jose police, Maynard was attacked by a group of suspects following an argument and was stabbed multiple times. He died shortly afterward at a hospital.

Police arrested Luis Garcia and Alvarez on suspicion of murder a day after Maynard's death and took Marvin Garcia into custody on Saturday.

At least two of the defendants, Alvarez and Luis Garcia, are alleged members of a criminal street gang and prosecutors added the gang enhancement to the homicide charges because they believe Maynard's killing was tied to gang activity, according to Gillingham.

At the hearing Thursday, Alvarez and Luis Garcia, dressed in red jail attire, sat in the jury box while Marvin Garcia, wearing a green sweatshirt and brown pants and with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, stood by a doorway leading to holding cells for defendants.

A lawyer for the county's Independent Defense Counsel Office representing Marvin Garcia told Brown that the boy is being held at the county's juvenile detention facility in San Jose.