A 15-year-old student at a Santa Rosa, Calif., high school has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of another student.
The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports that Daniel Jesus Pulido faces charges of one count of voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement of using a deadly and dangerous weapon and one felony count of unlawfully bringing and possessing a weapon on school grounds.
The charges stem from a March 1 fight inside an art class at Montgomery High School.
The victim, Jayden Pienta, 16, died from wounds suffered after an initial confrontation between students outside a classroom led to a fight inside.
Pienta was stabbed once in the chest and twice in the back, police said. A second 16-year-old boy was stabbed in his hand.
Prosecutors said they filed a manslaughter charge rather than first- or second-degree murder based on reports that the 15-year-old was defending himself during the altercation.
