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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.
Joaquin 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.
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“He cut her wings,” Nunez said. “She had a whole life in front of her. She had a goal. She had dreams.”
The family says they still do not know what may have motivated the killings and are searching for answers as they try to make sense of the tragedy.
“They gave him all their love, their respect, and they were there for him,” one relative told KTXL. “We just don’t understand what was going on in his head.”
The deaths have been especially difficult for loved ones because baby Mateo was only 2 weeks old when prosecutors say he was killed alongside his mother and grandmother.
Fabiola Gonzalez-Nunez and her mother, Sylvia Nunez-Villalobos, were among three family members killed in a stabbing attack in Modesto, California. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Adding another explosive layer to the case is Escoto’s immigration history.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Escoto is a Mexican national who illegally entered the United States in 2018 and was deported during the first Trump administration. Federal officials say he later returned to the country illegally and accumulated multiple arrests, including four DUI arrests.
DHS says Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer against Escoto following a June 2025 DUI arrest, requesting that local authorities transfer him into federal custody. Instead, according to federal officials, he was released without ICE being notified.
Now, after the deaths of three members of the same family, ICE has once again lodged a detainer seeking custody of Escoto should he become eligible for release from the Stanislaus County Jail.
Joaquin Escoto Vazquez is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of a mother, her 2-week-old son and the child’s grandmother in Modesto, California. (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Federal officials blasted California’s sanctuary policies in the wake of the killings, arguing the murders may never have happened had immigration authorities been allowed to take custody of Escoto after his prior arrest.
“This monster’s heinous crime could have been prevented if sanctuary politicians in California simply cooperated with ICE law enforcement,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“This criminal illegal alien from Mexico is now charged with homicide and cruelty toward child after the fatal stabbings of a baby, the baby’s mother, and the baby’s grandmother. ICE had placed a detainer on him after he was arrested for driving under the influence of liquor in 2025, but California sanctuary politicians chose to release him instead of turning him over to ICE.”
Bis went on to criticize California’s sanctuary policies, arguing they continue to put public safety at risk by allowing criminal illegal immigrants to be released back into communities rather than transferred to federal custody.
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According to DHS, Escoto was previously removed from the United States before illegally reentering the country at an unknown date and location. The agency said ICE has now lodged a new detainer following his arrest in the triple homicide case.
Escoto remains behind bars without bail and is scheduled to return to Stanislaus County Superior Court on July 28 at 8:30 a.m.