73-year-old store manager leaving the mall to cash her paycheck was stabbed to death by 19-year-old who just felt like killing someone that day: Police

Background: Tyler Leibelt (center, in jumpsuit), being escorted by police (Capitola Police Department). Inset: Rachell Summers (GoFundMe).

A California woman who just became a grandmother was fatally stabbed while she went back to her shop at the mall to pick up her paycheck.

Tyler Leibelt, 19, was arrested on July 21 in connection with the death of 73-year-old Rachell Summers. According to the Capitola Police Department, Leibelt's alleged attack on Summers on July 20 was a "random act of violence." In court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KSBW, police said Leibelt confessed to the crime and told them that Summers was not his first target.

Police said Leibelt went to the Capitola Mall that day with a plan to kill someone.

According to court documents, Leibelt told police that he thought about killing someone while he was in the cafeteria at Cabrillo College, where he was a student. Before heading to the mall by bus, he stopped at Big 5 Sporting Goods and bought "two knives so that he could hold one in each hand as he was killing someone," police said.

After considering different targets that he ultimately did not attack because he might be seen by too many people, Leibelt said he saw Summers walking on the sidewalk and ran toward her. When he reached her, he allegedly stabbed her in the back. Leibelt told police that she said, "Help me." Police said Leibelt stabbed Summers 11 times before he ran to a gas station, still covered in blood, and bought a drink.

Leibelt then called police to tell them what he did. According to the court documents, Leibelt reportedly told jail staff that "he still had homicidal thoughts while in the jail after the murder." KSBW reported that a judge had issued an emergency gun violence restraining order against Leibelt in November 2025 at the request of deputies from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, who said at the time that Leibelt "expressed a desire to cause a mass casualty event."

Police who responded to the scene found Summers with multiple stab wounds. She was declared dead at the scene. One of Summers' co-workers told KSBW that Summers had come to the mall that day to pick up her paycheck and then left the mall to cash it at a bank nearby.

More from Law&Crime: 'Looked right in my eyes': Woman recounts seeing high school senior who allegedly butchered 68-year-old ICU nurse because he 'wanted to kill someone for a long time'

KSBW reported that Summers, who was the manager of Art of Santa Cruz, a nonprofit store that supported local artists, had recently become a grandmother. A GoFundMe started by her friends and family said, "She dreamt of a bright future for her grandchild and hoped to see him pursue his education."

Leibelt was charged with first-degree murder and is in custody at the Santa Cruz County Jail, where he is being held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for July 29.