Information provided by Hollister Police Department
The Hollister Police Department announced that on Feb. 23, a San Benito County Superior Court jury reached a guilty verdict in the homicide case of Christopher Jacobs, 32. The jury found Manuel Campa guilty related to the crimes committed against Jacobs in 2020.
The release said that on Dec. 30, 2020, fire and police personnel were called to a report of a vehicle collision off Monterey Street near the downtown of Hollister in which they found Jacobs, the driver, unresponsive inside the vehicle.
Police said Jacobs was transported to the hospital but later died from his injury.
“During the course of the investigation officers discovered Christopher was the victim of a stabbing that occurred in downtown Hollister,” police said. “Apparently, after being stabbed, Christopher drove away from the assailant and only got a few blocks away before crashing his vehicle.”
According to the release, the investigation included the review of the downtown cameras that captured part of the crime and led investigators to identify the suspect in this case. The case was tried by the San Benito County Deputy District Attorney Joel Buckingham.
“With the receipt of the guilty verdict, the Jacobs family and those effected are finally provided justice and are able to now, hopefully, bring a sense of closure to this chapter of their lives,” police said. “The Jacobs family has tragically lost the presence of a bright young man with a great deal of promise who was taken too soon.”
Police continued, “The Jacobs family has now been provided the moment they have awaited since the loss of Christopher. The Jacobs family has held themselves with grace and respect that the justice system would ultimately prevail, and, it did.”
Police officers, Detectives T. Torres and A. Melgoza investigated this case.
In the press release the Hollister Police Department and the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office thanked the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, United Narcotics Enforcement Team (UNET), California Department of Justice, and the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s Office for their assistance in the case.