Carlos Reales Dominguez, the 21-year-old man accused of a deadly stabbing spree that killed two men and left a woman critically injured in Davis last spring, has been deemed mentally fit to face criminal charges.

In the latest twist to a saga that has gripped the college town since April, state hospital officials in Atascadero deemed the former UC Davis student “certified competent,” the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

The D.A.’s Office charged Reales Dominguez, an Oakland native, with murder and attempted murder charges with special circumstances in the deaths of David Breaux, 50, and UC Davis student Karim Abou Najm, 20. He’s also accused of stabbing 64-year-old Kimberlee Guillory as she slept in her tent in a homeless encampment. She survived the stabbing.

The murder case was put on hold after prosecutors conceded Reales Dominguez’s was found mentally unfit to help in his criminal defense. A doctor deemed him competent and prepared a report dated Dec. 20 declaring him so, said Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Melinda Aiello.

Reales Dominguez will be back in court Jan. 5, Aiello said. If there’s no challenge to his mental state, then criminal proceedings will be reinstated, she said.

Attorneys for Reales Dominguez could not be reached Thursday evening.

Breaux, 50, and Abou Najm, 20, were killed in separate Davis city parks days apart. Their slayings were followed by the brutal attack on 64-year-old Kimberlee Guillory as she slept in her tent in a homeless encampment.

In that week, the college town was gripped with fear amid the manhunt to find the suspect in the three attacks.

Reales Dominguez was a UC Davis biological science major who had excelled as a high school student-athlete in the East Bay but was dismissed from the university for academic reasons on April 25, just days before the deadly rampage started.

On May 4, the Davis Police Department announced Reales Dominguez’ arrest. Officers detained him the evening before a block from Sycamore Park — the site of the second homicide — after 15 separate callers phoned police to report seeing a man who matched the stabbing suspect description.

McAdam in June ruled Reales Dominguez — whose appearances were marked by his disheveled appearance and heavy jail-issued safety vest — was unfit to face the charges in court and suspended the case.

In June, testimony to determine the defendant’s mental competency revealed the former student’s slide into the apparent mental crisis that allegedly precipitated the attacks.

Reales Dominguez said the “devil was talking to him in his dreams,” his former girlfriend testified. His behavior became increasingly bizarre and isolated, his roommates said in court. The behavior became so troubling, roommates testified, that they selected one to talk to Dominguez about seeking help.

His attorney, Yolo County Deputy Public Defender Daniel Hutchinson, argued in court that schizophrenia fueled his client’s behavior.

The Bee’s Rosalio Ahumada and Darrell Smith contributed to this story.