A San José teen is behind bars after prosecutors charged with murder in the death of his two-year-old foster brother, alleging the toddler was repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted after being placed in a foster home earlier this year.
The suspect, whose name was not revealed, was 17 at the time of the alleged abuse of Jaxon Juarez. The toddler died on April 9, just days after police found his “small, bruised and battered body” on Easter Sunday at the home where the suspect lived. An official cause of death has not been released.
The suspect, who is also Jaxon’s cousin, according to KQED, is currently in juvenile court, but District Attorney Jeff Rosen is seeking to have the case transferred to adult court. He recently turned 18, officials said.
“The rape and murder of a child are two of the most serious crimes that we prosecute,” Rosen said after the suspect’s first court appearance. “These crimes should be heard in our most serious criminal courts.”
The suspect was initially charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, including forced sodomy, but on Monday, prosecutors added counts including murder, child assault causing death and additional sexual assault allegations. Among them, he is accused of placing a hair tie around the toddler’s neck, causing significant injury.
Jaxon had been living with a relative, Bridget Michelle Martinez, the suspect’s mother, for only a few weeks before his death. Prosecutors said they are continuing to investigate whether additional charges may be filed against others, including potential accountability within the county system.
“This is not the first time that this has happened,” Rosen said. “People in the public, and myself as the DA, would like to know who is responsible criminally, civilly, morally, ethically, systemically.
“Why are horrible and tragic crimes happening to children in the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children’s Services over and over and over again?” he added.
Jaxon is the third child to die in recent years while under the supervision of Santa Clara County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, according to Rosen as reported by KQED.
“This is the third child in the past couple of years under the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children Services who has been murdered,” Rosen said. “Change needs to come, and it needs to come fast – and it needs to happen now.”
County Spokesperson Peter Gallotta told ABC7 in a statement the Department of Family and Children Services is conducting its own investigation while requesting that the California Department of Social Services undertake its own.
“The county is committed to swiftly investigating every aspect of this horrific tragedy and publicly sharing the results of these investigations when available and to the extent allowable by law,” he said.
Both San José police and county officials are investigating Jaxon’s death, and the state Department of Social Services has been asked to conduct an independent review.
Before his death, Jaxon had lived with his parents until his mother, Brianna Burton, died last year. He then entered the foster system and then was placed with a maternal grandparent. The grandparent was ordered to bring the child to South Bay for regular visits with his father, a requirement that prevented the grandparent from continuing to serve as a guardian, KQED reported.
Family members say they had asked for Jaxon to be placed with relatives in Arizona but were denied. In February, Jaxon was transferred to live with Martinez, despite records showing that she was convicted of felony child endangerment in 2014. It remains unclear whether the department was aware of her history or how the placement was approved.
“It is completely unacceptable,” Jaxon’s aunt, Riley Wallace, said last week. “They did not protect a child, and that’s their job, that’s what they took the child for, to protect him. And they failed him so terribly.”
Wallace said the family plans to sue, arguing Jaxon should never have been placed in the home.
“He did not deserve this,” said Evangeline Dominguez-Estrada, a friend of Jaxon’s late mother, speaking outside court. “He deserved to be protected. He deserved to be cared for. Every child deserves that. They need us.”
The suspect is scheduled to return to court May 21, when a judge will decide whether the case should be moved to adult court.
