Law police is still investigating the horrific triple stabbing that killed a grandma, mother, and newborn inside a California home.
Around 9.20 a.m. on Thursday, Fabiola Gonzalez-Nunez, 23, her two-week-old son Mateo Gonzalez, and her 54-year-old mother Maria Sylvia Nunez-Villalobos were killed in Modesto, around ninety miles east of San Francisco.
The triple homicide occurred in the 1600 block of Monterey Avenue, according to the Modesto Police Department.
According to authorities, Joaquin Escoto, 28, was apprehended for the murders after being discovered “hiding inside a nearby residence.”
Although it was unclear what kind of relationship he had with Gonzalez-Nuñez, investigators said they thought he was in one.
It is believed that Escoto, a Mexican immigrant, shared the house with the victims he fatally stabbed.
A 3-year-old child was also discovered inside the home and brought to the hospital for assessment.
Child Protective Services took possession of the unharmed child after Escoto was determined to be the child’s father.
On Thursday, Fabiola Gonzalez-Nuñez, 23, and her mother, Maria Sylvia Nuñez-Villalobos, 54, died from stabbing wounds.
Mateo Gonzalez, his two-week-old son, was also discovered with stab wounds and subsequently pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Joaquin Escoto, 28, is charged with three counts of murder, using a deadly weapon, and special circumstance enhancements. According to reports, the Mexican immigrant has been deported from the US three times.
Escoto, born in Jalisco, had been deported from the US three times prior to the alleged triple homicide, according to the California Post.
He was most recently arrested for a DUI in June but set free after being taken into custody despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking to deport him, the outlet reported.
Escoto was able to remain California because of its sanctuary laws, which limit state and local law enforcement cooperation for federal immigration enforcement.
The Modesto Police Department said it had initially found that Gonzalez–Nuñez had been stabbed multiple times upon responding to the home.
She was declared dead on the scene, and officers found Nuñez–Villalobos and the baby Mateo shortly thereafter.
Nuñez–Villalobos was also pronounced dead, but the toddler was rushed to a local hospital.
There, the baby, who had also been stabbed, was pronounced dead.
Gonzalez–Nuñez was the mother of the infant, and Nuñez–Villalobos was his grandmother.
Escoto is charged with three counts of murder, using a deadly weapon, and special circumstance enhancements.
Escoto also had an outstanding arrest warrant for a previous driving under the influence case, according to the authorities.
He is being detained without bond after being booked into the Stanislaus County Jail.
According to the Modesto Police Department, the 1600 block of Monterey Avenue is where the suspected triple homicide occurred.
While her daughter Gonzalez-Nuñez was recalled as a “devoted mother,” Nuñez-Villalobos was recognized as a “cherished grandmother who loved her family deeply.”
Escoto, who was photographed at the time of his arrest, also had a pending arrest warrant from a previous case involving driving under the influence.
The deaths were described as a “heartbreaking loss that words cannot adequately express” in a GoFundMe page created to assist with the family’s burial and counseling costs.
Nuñez-Villalobos was described as a “cherished grandmother who loved her family deeply.”
Gonzalez-Nuñez, her daughter, was recognized as a “devoted mother whose love for her children was endless.”
Mateo was described as a “precious baby whose smile and innocence brought happiness to everyone around him” when he was a toddler.
‘The devastating circumstances surrounding this tragedy have left our family shattered,’ the memorial read. ‘In a single moment, generations of love, memories, and dreams for the future were taken from us.’
As of Saturday, about $30,500 had been raised.
A family member, who only identified himself as Javier, said his family was devastated but also expressed relief at Escoto’s arrest.
Gonzalez–Nuñez is believed to have been in a relationship with Escoto at the time of the triple-homicide, according to investigators
‘You can’t really do anything to bring them back no more, but we just know that he’s going to be in there for a long time, suffering, thinking about what he did,’ he told KCRA 3.
“That’s what’s going to be killing him,” the family member continued.
The Nuñez family and the Modesto police have been contacted by the Daily Mail for additional comment.
