Sonoma State University student describes fight in dorm room that left 1 dead

The man who was stabbed to death in a Sonoma State University dorm in May was trying to force his way into the bedroom with another intruder and confront a student hiding inside, a witness testified Thursday.

Recent SSU freshman Riley O’Rourke testified that her friend stabbed the man, Steven John Garcia, 26, while trying to defend himself inside an apartment-style dorm in the Sauvignon Village student housing complex.

The testimony came during a preliminary hearing in Sonoma County Superior Court, where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to place Tyler Bratton, 20, on trial for felony voluntary manslaughter.

Neither Bratton, 20, nor the intruders, Garcia and 21-year-old Rebecca Stjern, were university students. O’Rourke said Bratton was there to protect her from Stjern, who had threatened to fight her after a falling out.

Stjern had O’Rourke’s key card, and there was no dead bolt or other method for O’Rourke to lock her out, she said. Bratton braced himself against the door, attempting to keep Garcia and Stjern from entering the room, but they pushed their way in, O’Rourke said. Garcia then grabbed Bratton by the throat, she testified.

“After the man grabbed Tyler (Bratton) by the throat, what happened?” Deputy District Attorney Chris Brown said.

“He was ... he was ... choking Tyler,” O’Rourke said. “Tyler pulled out a knife.”

O’Rourke said her memory of that night was spotty, hampered by being intoxicated and also the shock of what occurred. But she testified she saw Bratton stab Garcia in the thigh and the pair struggle, moving from the bedroom to a bathroom, where Garcia died from multiple stab wounds. Bratton fled to a nearby laundry room on campus to wait for police, who arrested him.

O’Rourke had let Stjern stay in the dorm when they became fast friends about one month before the stabbing, according to her testimony. O’Rourke said she felt bad for Stjern, who apparently had trouble with law enforcement and no driver’s license. O’Rourke believed Stjern and Garcia were dating, although she had never met him.

On May 12, the day before the stabbing, the friends had a falling out when Stjern took O’Rourke’s car without her permission while they were partying at a friend’s place in Santa Rosa, according to O’Rourke’s testimony and statements to police. O’Rourke said she passed out after drinking alcohol at the party and friends suspected she’d been drugged. When she awoke several hours later, groggy and feeling sick, her car was gone.

She called Stjern, who returned to the house before dawn. Several friends met outside, including Bratton, and they were arguing about the car. The disagreement continued to a grocery store parking lot in west Santa Rosa.

“She told me I was showing my true colors and called me a bitch,” O’Rourke said of the encounter at the parking lot. “She said, ‘You’re getting your ass whooped.’”

She said Stjern threatened to involve her uncle, who she’d described in the past as violent.

O’Rourke fled the parking lot with Bratton, and they went to her dorm room. But Stjern had her key card, and a dorm assistant let her in. O’Rourke said she asked about getting the code changed but was told it couldn’t happen until the student services office opened on Monday.

There, they waited. Stjern showed up about 7 a.m., letting herself in using a numerical code and the key card. O’Rourke said she heard the beeps from the key pad and locked herself in a bathroom, with Bratton bracing the door to her room.

“What were you able to hear?” Brown asked O’Rourke about the moments when she was locked inside the bathroom and Bratton held her bedroom door shut with his body.

“Them pushing the door, my bedroom door. Banging on the door,” O’Rourke said. “I was able to hear Rebecca (Stjern) yelling, ‘What are you going to do, stab me?’?”

They yelled through the door, but Stjern eventually left.

O’Rourke said she was sick and throwing up most of the day, and she was afraid that Stern would return. Bratton stayed with her.

Bratton had a switchblade knife, which he repeatedly took out of his pocket and appeared to be testing it out, according to Brown, the prosecutor, who read from O’Rourke’s statements to police that night.

That evening, Stjern returned to the dorm with Garcia and the two pushed their way into the room, where Garcia died.

The hearing before Judge Robert LaForge continues Friday.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.