A sick California teen has been charged with the murder and sexual assault of his two-year-old cousin and foster brother.
The crime devastate friends and family, who were distraught at a court hearing on Monday. Baby Jaxon was found unresponsive in his crib on Easter Sunday in San Jose.
Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen charged a 17-year-old, who has since turned 18, with murder and several felonies such as child assault causing death and sexual assault.
“This was a two-year-old child who was horribly abused and viciously murdered,” Rosen said. “And we want to make sure that the level of accountability is the right level.”
Jaxon passed away in the hospital several days after being found and his death is still under investigation.
Investigators say evidence points to the suspect sexually assaulting his cousin and physically abusing him when he was placed with his family by the county in February.
County spokesman Peter Gallotta told KGO the Department of Family and Children Services is conducting a probe while also urging the California Department of Social Services to do the same.
“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,” Gallotta said.
The district attorney urged the children services department to enact change with recent deaths associated with them.
“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.”
His family can’t understand why the vicious crime happened.
“I can’t imagine what this sweet little baby went through,” Evangeline Dominguez-Estrada told ABC 7. “Who can hear a baby crying and continue to harm them, let alone kill them?”
“He was only two, and he did not deserve this,” Dominguez-Estrada said.
The suspect will be back in court on May 21. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen wants to try him as an adult though the crimes happened while he was a minor.
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