The illegal immigrant accused of slaughtering a 2-week-old baby, the child's mother and grandmother flashed a grin during a California courtroom appearance Monday as devastated relatives of the victims looked on from the gallery.Joaquin Escoto, 28, entered Stanislaus County Superior Court shackled at the wrists and ankles, wearing an orange-and-white jail uniform and sitting beside his attorney and a Spanish interpreter.But it was his apparent smirk during the proceedings that stood out as family members were still reeling from what prosecutors allege was a vicious triple murder.Escoto is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 23-year-old Fabiola Gonzalez-Nunez, her newborn son Mateo Gonzalez and 54-year-old Sylvia Nunez-Villalobos.
He also faces special-circumstance allegations for multiple victims, a knife enhancement, child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 8 and child endangerment involving the couple's surviving 3-year-old child.The hearing lasted only a few minutes, but for relatives of the victims watching from the gallery, the pain remains constant.WAVE OF ALLEGED MIGRANT MURDERS IGNITES FURY ACROSS US AS OFFICIALS WARN OF MORE CARNAGE, CRACKDOWN NEEDEDJoaquin Escoto appears in Stanislaus County Superior Court after prosecutors charged him with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of a mother, her newborn son and the child's grandmother.(KTXL)"And it really destroyed us.
I don't know how we're going to live our lives now," Maria Nunez, sister of Sylvia Nunez-Villalobos and aunt of Fabiola Gonzalez-Nunez, told KTXL.Nunez described her niece as a young woman whose future had only just begun.Have a story tip? Email me at [email protected].
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