Mom of California car thief who was fatally stabbed during heist wants DA to charge son’s killer: ‘Going to fight for justice’
The mother of an accused California car thief who was fatally stabbed during a heist attempt wants authorities to reopen the case and charge her son’s killer in the name of “justice.”
Xavier Jerrod Cerf, 27, was fatally stabbed around 8 p.m. June 17 after a group of students confronted him as he allegedly tried to steal an older Mercedes parked behind a frat house on the University of Southern California’s Greek Row, according to ABC 7.
Cerf allegedly told the students that the car was his because it was “calling him” and “had his name” — then told them he had a handgun before reaching for his waist, investigators said.
Ivan Gallegos, a 19-year-old student at the school, grabbed Cerf’s hand, then stabbed him in the chest, authorities said.
After Cerf died, cops determined that he didn’t have a gun. But they said Gallegos won’t face charges because he was protecting himself and others out of genuine fear for his life, ABC said.
“There is consistency in the assessment that the decedent indicated he had a gun,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said at the time.
“Although he didn’t have a gun, he did reach out for his waistband,” Gascón said of Cerf. “When you look at the totality of the circumstances, it really indicates there was a reasonable belief that Mr. Gallegos believed his life was in danger.”
But Cerf’s mom, Yema Jones of Houston, doesn’t buy the self-defense finding because she said the students walked up to Cerf first. She said she wants Gascón to reconsider his decision not to file charges.
“What were you defending?” she said to ABC, referring to the students. “If somebody is coming after you, then you defend yourself from that person harming you. Not you coming to that person and harming them.”
She said her son — who was also the father of a 3-year-old boy — had just been released from a mental-health facility.
The family — which is trying to bring Cerf’s body back to Texas and “away from the people who hurt him” — is wearing purple bracelets inscribed with the letters “LLX,” which stands for “Long Live Xavier.”
“I’m going to fight for justice for what’s mine,” Cerf’s mom said. “So he can properly rest. Because he didn’t deserve that.”
“I haven’t had time to grieve because my mind is going on what I need to do to get my son here,” Jones said.
She also told the station that cops’ description of Cerf as “homeless” was inaccurate.
“I want them to say his name,” she said. “His name is Xavier Jerrod Cerf. He wasn’t a homeless man. He had a home.”
Gascon’s office did not respond to a Sunday request for comment.
