Gomez, 22, is a Chicano Studies major from North Hollywood who was active in a variety of political causes at Cal. His arraignment, originally scheduled for 9 a.m., was moved back to 2 p.m.
Gomez's alleged attack on Inman, a UC Santa Cruz graduate who had worked as an environmental educator and was training to be a Waldorf teacher, is believed to have occurred at her Ashby Avenue home late the morning of Jan. 6.
Gomez is alleged to have then attacked the second victim and driven with her to Ridge Road and La Loma Avenue, just north of campus. Berkeley police dispatch recordings suggest that Gomez took keys to the second victim's car and apartment and left the neighborhood.
The woman reportedly flagged down a passer-by, who called 911 at 11:42 a.m. She had suffered serious injuries to her face, arms and back.
Among the many circumstances that have drawn attention to the case is the delay between the initial attack on Inman and the discovery of her body.
Dispatch recordings suggest that the second victim told police of the exact address Gomez had visited on Ashby Avenue, across the street from Alta Bates Hospital, and that officers arrived there by 11:56 a.m. to find the front door of the residence "wide open." Officers also reported the presence of a car, registered to Inman at another address, in the driveway.
A few minutes later, an unidentified supervisor instructed officers at the Ashby Avenue address to "hold off on any contact there until we figure out what's going on." Just before 12:30 p.m., the supervisor said officers would be entering the home to "clear" it -- a process reportedly completed within 10 minutes. Officers discovered no additional victims at that point, though the supervisor said there was evidence of an assault "inside and outside the house."
Police spent the balance of the day searching for Gomez. They visited several addresses, including an apartment complex on Haste Street where the second victim lived and a student group residence on Prospect Street.
In the meantime, Inman had not been seen since the time of the attack, and friends and family circulated word that she was missing.
Berkeley police have declined to discuss when or how Inman's body was found, only saying it was "much later" than the reported attack.
Dispatch recordings suggest that it wasn't until about 11 p.m., nearly 12 hours after Gomez is believed to have visited the house, that her body was found.
About 11:15 p.m., a Berkeley fire dispatcher requested that one of the department's medical units report to the residence.
"We have this very suspicious case that PD has been working on all day ... I'm sure you heard about it -- with the stabbing, and now we need a silent approach [no sirens], just a medical, to confirm a DBF [dead body found] on Ashby," the dispatcher said.
After the attacks, Gomez traveled to Los Angeles and checked himself into a hospital in Burbank. The Gomez family retained a local lawyer, Michael Levin, who negotiated a surrender to local police on Saturday, Jan. 7.
"The concern is that when individuals are being cast in the news (as) 'extremely dangerous and armed' and someone simply calls the police, the SWAT team comes in, someone could be killed -- something could be easily escalated," Levin said in an interview Monday. "The purpose of bringing me in was to ensure a very safe surrender to make also sure at the time to have counsel retained, that he is asserting his right to remain silent, and I also contacted homicide detectives in Berkeley. Basically, I was there to protect him."
Berkeley police returned Gomez to the Bay Area from Los Angeles on Thursday. Levin said he expects a public defender to represent Gomez during court proceedings.
