The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday announced amended charges in the fatal stabbing on State Street during Fiesta weekend, including the complete dismissal of all charges against suspect Juan Fernando Rios in connection with the stabbing.
The stabbing occurred after a fight broke out on the 500 block of State Street on August 1 and produced three victims, including one who lost his life, Anthony Bisquera-Hartley, a 30-year-old father of three. Three men were arrested and charged in connection with the incident soon after.
According to District Attorney John Savrnoch, new video evidence allegedly shows that Bisquera-Hartley was armed with a knife. Savrnoch’s updated determination is that the two men originally charged with Bisquera-Hartley’s murder were acting in self-defense.
Savrnoch announced he has therefore dropped the murder charges initially filed against two of the three stabbing suspects, Juan Fernando Rios, 28, and Sergio Rivas, 30. Criminal processes are dynamic, and charges can change to reflect new evidence, leading to such amendments.
Initially, the now-defunct murder charges were filed based on the early state of the investigation, which “showed that Bisquera-Hartley was unarmed when he attacked Mr. Rivas and suffered a fatal stab wound at the hands of Mr. Rivas and a non-fatal stab wound at the hands of Mr. Rios,” the DA’s Office said.
The earlier charges led the community to probe into the suspects’ prior convictions — especially considering that Rios was out on bail for a separate offense at the time of the stabbing — as well as raise questions around security on the 500-600 blocks of State Street, where multiple stabbings have occurred over the years.
The two men’s amended charges discard all murder allegations in light of the DA’s new claim that Bisquera-Hartley attacked Rivas while armed with a knife, and “Rivas acted in lawful self-defense when he stabbed Mr. Bisquera-Hartley.” Savrnoch also determined that Rios “acted in lawful defense of Mr. Rivas when he stabbed Mr. Bisquera-Hartley.” Rios now faces zero charges in connection to the stabbing.
Anthony Bisquera-Hartley’s family is still grieving the loss of their loved one. Bisquera-Hartley’s mother, Karen Biquera, said their family is incredibly upset by the news, especially considering the DA’s narrative involving her son’s alleged participation in the fight.
“My son can’t defend himself because he is gone,” she said. “I have zero confidence in the DA’s Office, and we’re outraged. We have no fatih in them. The whole town should be outraged by what’s going on, what they’re doing.” She said the family has no further comment at this time.
All three suspects arrested in connection with the stabbing still face other charges. Sergio Rivas is charged with assault with a deadly weapon against stabbing victim, J. Ramos, as well as numerous firearm-related charges in connection with his arrest.
The DA is also continuing to pursue convictions against Juan Fernando Rios for several firearm-related charges connected to his DUI arrest on July 26, 2025 (for which he was out on bail at the time of the stabbing), including being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm in public. Again, all other charges against Rios in connection to the recent stabbing have been dropped.
The third suspect, Luis Gerardo Terrazas, 29, was originally charged with the attempted murder of co-defendent Sergio Rivas. However, “based on new information learned by the District Attorney’s office,” Terrazas will instead be charged with assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, with special allegation of personally using a deadly weapon in the commission of the offense.
Additionally, all three defendants were cleared of any gang-related charges filed in connection with the stabbing, based on the new evidence, according to the DA.
After an August 25 hearing, Judge Foley granted Terrazas’s motion to reduce his bail from $1 million to $150,000. Terrazas posted bail with several conditions on his release, including GPS monitoring. Rivas and Rios remain in custody, but the DA’s Office confirmed they will also receive lowered bail amounts.
All three defendants will be arraigned in Department 12 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court on Monday, September 8, at 8:30 a.m.
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