Levi's Stadium stabbing victim recovering at home as alleged attacker appears in court
"Hopefully he will pay for this since he tried to kill me. If he took a knife to the stadium, it was to kill someone."
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- From a fight at Levi's Stadium to the Santa Clara County Courthouse.
29-year-old Alejandro Garcia-Villanueva appeared in court Friday for the first time since allegedly stabbing Emmanuel Diaz Leal at a soccer match last Sunday.
Garcia-Villanueva of Sacramento faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon following the brawl that nearly killed Diaz and injured two others.
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"This was an incredibly frightening incident that happened in broad daylight in front of children and in front of families," Santa Clara Co. Deputy District Attorney Aidan Welsh said. "The defendant stabbed the victim with a deadly weapon. He was clearly aiming at the head or neck level and the victim is very lucky to be alive."
Now back in his San Jose home, Diaz is still recovering physically and emotionally from his wounds.
"I'm happy for the public's help in detaining him," Diaz said. "Hopefully he will pay for this since he tried to kill me. If he took a knife to the stadium, it was to kill someone. Imagine if he was walking around the street."
But Garcia-Villanueva won't be on the streets any time soon.
The judge ruled that he should remain in custody with no bail saying he poses a risk to the community.
Diaz wishes he could've been at the courthouse.
RELATED: 'God or luck': Man describes being stabbed during massive fight at Levi's Stadium soccer game
"I wanted to see what he was charged with," Diaz said. "That is it. But I am not in a condition to move around. I have a lot of anger going through my head. I would not forgive him. I want to know why he did it, why he tried to kill me."
While recovery is slow, Diaz says he is doing better little by little.
He said he warned others before the fight about Garcia-Villanueva, but nothing was done. Diaz is now considering legal action.
The fervent soccer fan also says he's not sure he'll want to attend a game again.
"I would think about it twice to tell you the truth," Diaz said. "I have played soccer and I have never seen anything like this, where they don't inspect you. No imagine you go through security and these things get through."
But it did, and Levi's Stadium said they are conducting an internal investigation into how that knife got past security, and the events that ultimately landed Garcia-Villanueva in jail.
His next court appearance will be on Aug. 18 at 9 a.m.
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