A USC student has been charged by police with attempted murder stabbing a man who was broke A man who was hit by a car on Greek Row will not be charged with murder, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Ivan Gallegos, 19, was released after being held for two days following a shootout between him and two others, according to Los Angeles police. Xavier CerfEarlier this week, Gallegos, 27, was attacked as he tried to get into a car, and he pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed the man.
“After careful consideration and a thorough review of all available evidence, we have decided not to file charges against Gallegos. We believe Mr. Gallegos acted out of genuine fear for his life and the lives of others,” District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. “We offer our condolences to the deceased’s family, friends and everyone affected by this tragic incident.”
Police said the encounter happened Monday just after 8 p.m. in the 700 block of West 28th Street.
According to district attorney’s documents, Gallegos and other members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity saw Cerf enter a 2010 Mercedes parked behind the fraternity house.
Three people from the home, including Gallegos, approached the car. The report says Gallegos had a knife and the other man had a large wooden stick. They told Cerf to leave the car but he refused and locked the door, saying “the car was calling to him,” the report says.
Prosecutors said Cerf then opened the door and told Gallegos, “I have a gun” and also grabbed his waistband with both hands “as if he was reaching for a gun.” Two witnesses confirmed Cerf’s statements to officers about having a gun.
The report states that Gallegos held Cerf’s arms with his left hand so he couldn’t pull out the gun, and also stabbed him in the chest with his right hand. Cerf then grabbed Gallegos’ right arm and the two grappled, with Gallegos stabbing him three more times and dragging him out of the car.
Police said they found Cerf suffering from stab wounds in a nearby alley and he was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics arrived.
Gallegos later told police he had the knife because “this area is dangerous and there have been several violent crimes against students here,” the report said.
Meeting with reporters Thursday afternoon, Gascón said they had “three individuals, all made similar statements and they were interviewed separately. You know, there was a 911 call, right when the struggle was happening. So there’s consistency in the assessments that one thing indicates he had a gun, even though he didn’t have a gun. Then he pulled out his waistband.”
Based on the evidence, “it appears that Gallegos acted with a genuine and reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to protect himself and others from the imminent threat of being shot,” Deputy District Attorney Jose Luis Arias wrote in declining to charge him.
He said the situation “would cause any reasonable person to fear being shot.” “The use of deadly force under the circumstances was proportionate and objectively reasonable and supports a claim of pure self-defense.”
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Gascón said of the case. “First of all, someone lost his life and it’s very unfortunate for the family, because there is a lot of sadness that comes with losing a life. On the other hand, Mr. Gallegos is also in shock. Not only him but the other two young men with him as well. There’s no doubt that Mr. Gallegos will carry this with him for the rest of his life. There are no winners here, only a terrible loss of life.”
Dmitry Gorin, a Los Angeles defense attorney and former prosecutor, said Thursday that for the district attorney not to file charges, he would have to find that Gallegos “acted reasonably based on all of the facts and circumstances in the police report.”
He said, “The evidence shows that the accused acted in self-defence, and hence, the killing is legally justifiable.”
Cerf’s family was upset by the D.A.’s decision.
“I want justice,” said Yema Jones, Cerf’s mother.
She said she “didn’t understand” the self-defense claim because no gun was recovered at the scene.
“Even if he was breaking into a car, it’s not your job to take justice into your own hands,” said Cerf’s uncle, Detorion Jones.
The family said they were told that video evidence of the altercation contradicted prosecutors’ story. The family is now exploring other legal avenues.
“They came at him in somebody else’s vehicle,” Cerf’s aunt, Rashani Jones, said. Gallegos “took the law into his own hands to protect somebody else’s property.”
Yema Jones said her son was not a violent person and had recently been released from a mental health center in Los Angeles. He was the father of a 3-year-old boy, Anthony.
On her TikTok page, which has nearly 2,000 followers, Cerf shared several videos of herself dancing — sometimes alone, sometimes with family and friends.
In one video, Surf filmed himself performing in front of the Houston city skyline, a smile on his face while neighbors mocked him.
Public records show Cerf has had several run-ins with law enforcement in recent years. In Texas, he was convicted of misdemeanor assault with bodily injury in 2020 in Harris County.
In Los Angeles County, he was arrested by Glendora police on March 10 for a misdemeanor and charged with possession of personal identifying information with intent to defraud and loitering. They arrested him again about a week later on March 18 for alleged drug paraphernalia. He was then arrested on April 28 by the LAPD in a citizen’s arrest for an alleged assault.
After he failed to appear at a June 12 court hearing related to the Glendora arrest, court records show a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
On Tuesday, a high school friend of Gallegos’ who attended USC with him described him as someone who went out of his way to take care of his friends.
“He was always considerate of others,” the friend said. “When I heard the news about Evan, it broke my heart. At the end of the day, I know he was just trying to protect himself. A lot of people at USC love him.”
Gallegos’ family did not return calls seeking information about him. But in a brief phone conversation Tuesday, Gallegos’ mother said: “He’s a good kid.”
Earlier this year, Gallegos shared an excerpt from an essay he wrote for the USC Dornsife Prison Education Project on his LinkedIn page.
He wrote, “I will dedicate my life to starting a movement that inspires people with criminal backgrounds to seek a better life for themselves, because life locked in prison is not worth living.” The article was awarded an honorable mention.
Gallegos has also been featured in campus media for his work as a musician producing electronic dance music.
In May, he performed with Mariachi Los Troynos at the school under his stage name IDG. According to a recent report from USC Annenberg Media.
“During his childhood, Evan learned the realities of both his parents’ involvement in gang activity, which resulted in their intermittent prison terms,” the report states. “Despite growing up in an environment filled with drugs, gangs and prostitution, he focused on music and honed his skills to become a versatile (instrumentalist) and singer.”
Times staff writer Matt Ormseth contributed to this report.
