A North Carolina teenager charged with aiding two shooters responsible for a deadly attack on a mosque in San Diego has not been provided sufficient details by prosecutors to mount an adequate defense, her attorney said Monday.
Seventeen-year-old Sarah Santiago faces three counts of murder by aiding and abetting and one count of conspiracy in connection with the May 18 shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego. Authorities allege Santiago assisted Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, by agreeing in advance to record and distribute a livestream of the attack and disseminate their white-supremacist writings. She is also accused of purchasing and sending a white-supremacist patch to one of the shooters for use during the assault.
Santiago’s lawyer, Alan Doorasamy, argued during a court hearing in Winston-Salem that prosecutors have yet to specify how or when Santiago allegedly communicated with Clark and Vazquez or provide details about the purported agreement to record and share the livestream. Doorasamy submitted a formal request for a “bill of particulars” on Friday, seeking clarification on the charges rather than evidence itself. The judge scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to consider the motion. As of Monday, the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office had not responded to the request or comment inquiries.
Doorasamy emphasized that Santiago, a minor held without bail since her arrest late last month, is “very scared” and “needs to know why she was arrested.” Under North Carolina law, aiding and abetting charges carry penalties identical to those applied to the primary perpetrators if convicted.
On May 18, Clark and Vazquez entered the Islamic Center, killing three people—including security guard Amin Abdullah, who engaged the attackers and helped secure about 140 children nearby before being fatally shot. The shooters then killed themselves in a nearby vehicle. Authorities revealed that the pair left behind extensive writings expressing extremist white-supremacist views and cited the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooter as an influence. Investigators also uncovered plans for future attacks targeting a Jewish temple and Black students at a local high school.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill acknowledged the actions of the security guard and victims in limiting the attack’s impact. Meanwhile, the Vazquez family released a statement saying Caleb Vazquez, who was on the autism spectrum, developed resentments tied to aspects of his identity, which, along with online exposure to hateful rhetoric, contributed to his radicalization.
No further comment was available from prosecutors at the time of publication.
