NC teen charged in deadly mosque shooting in San Diego appears in court, attorney asks for details of her ties to shooters

WINSTON-SALEM -- The attorney for a North Carolina girl accused of helping two teens who carried out a deadly attack on a San Diego mosque says prosecutors haven’t provided enough information to allow him to defend his client. Sarah Santiago, 17, is charged as an adult with three counts of murder by aiding and abetting and one count of conspiracy. Prosecutors say she helped California teens Cain Clark and Caleb Vazquez, who shot and killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego on May 18 before killing themselves. Prosecutors in North Carolina allege Santiago agreed in advance to record and distribute a livestream of the attack made by the shooters and to disseminate their white-supremacist writings.

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WilluChill News DeskSan Diego, California · Published Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 2:58 PM UTCUpdated Tuesday, September 22, 2026 at 6:37 PM UTC

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The motion does not seek to force the prosecutor's office to turn over actual evidence, but rather to provide more information clarifying the allegations against Santiago. The Forsyth County District Attorney's Office did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday. “She needs to know why she was arrested," Doorasamy told The Associated Press in comments outside the courthouse Monday. “She's a child.

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