A 25-year-old Morgan Hill man was arrested on suspicion of murder and other charges Sunday after he stabbed his parents multiple times at the family’s residence, according to authorities.
About 12:55pm June 21, Morgan Hill Police responded to a home on the 16000 block of Rustling Oak Court in response to multiple calls reporting a disturbance and stabbing. Officers arrived to a “horrific crime scene and chaotic situation,” with a male suspect covered in blood standing near the front of the home, according to Morgan Hill Police. The suspect was demanding that officers shoot him.
Officers could also see an unresponsive female victim with multiple stab wounds lying on the porch of the residence, police said.
Arriving officers “de-escalated the suspect’s actions” and arrested him without using force, police said. The suspect was identified as Dane Cleeton.
Police and paramedics summoned medical aid for the female victim, but she was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Officers located a second victim—an adult male—across the street from the home, suffering from several stab wounds. Paramedics responded and transported the man to the hospital by helicopter.
The male victim had suffered life-threatening wounds to his head and upper torso, according to police.
MHPD detectives are still investigating the homicide. So far, detectives have determined there had been a disturbance between the homeowners and Cleeton, their adult son. During the disturbance, Cleeton stabbed both victims, according to police.
Dane Cleeton was arrested and booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to police.
He was scheduled to be arraigned at the Santa Clara County Superior Court Hall of Justice in San Jose June 24, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
A couple who have lived on Rustling Oak Court for more than 30 years said June 22 that the Sunday disturbance was the first time they had seen police respond to an emergency on the street. Sunita and Mitan Gandhi live several houses up the hill from the Cleetons, whom Mitan described as a “very good family.”
Sunita Gandhi said she spoke to Dane Cleeton’s mother often over the years. She was the neighbor who “kept the whole street in the loop” about recent events, Sunita said. Mitan Gandhi said he sometimes saw Dane Cleeton walking up and down the street, but never observed him acting in anger or violence.
The Gandhis estimated the Cleeton family lived in the Rustling Oak Court home since at least the late-1990s. An older daughter used to live at the home, but she has moved out in recent years.
On June 21, the Gandhis did not witness the initial violence, but they went outside as police and other emergency personnel arrived to the scene. “Everything was bloody,” Mitan Gandhi said. “It was a gruesome scene.”
The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office has not released the identity of the female victim.
Anyone with information about this incident can call MHPD Det. Chris Woodrow at (669) 253-4895 or email [email protected].
