An illegal alien charged in the stabbing deaths of a California mother, her 2-week-old son and the child’s grandmother appeared briefly in court Monday as grieving relatives said they are still struggling to understand the killings.
Joaquin Escoto Vazquez, 28, appeared in Stanislaus County Superior Court wearing an orange-and-white jail uniform and shackles on his wrists and ankles. He sat beside an attorney and a Spanish interpreter during a hearing that lasted only a few minutes.
Escoto Vazquez faces 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. Prosecutors also charged him with child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 8, child endangerment involving a surviving 3-year-old child, and special-circumstance allegations tied to multiple victims and a knife enhancement.
Authorities said investigators found the victims with stab wounds inside a home in Modesto after police responded to reports of a disturbance on May 28. Gonzalez-Nunez and Nunez-Villalobos were pronounced dead at the scene, while Mateo later died at a hospital.
Family members said the violence has left them devastated, particularly because Mateo was only 2 weeks old.
“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 Gonzalez-Nunez, told KTXL.
Relatives said they remain uncertain about what led to the killings.
“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.”
Family members described Gonzalez-Nunez as a young woman with plans for the future.
“He cut her wings,” a relative said. “She had a whole life in front of her. She had a goal. She had dreams.”
Authorities said a young child found unharmed at the home has since been taken in by relatives. Investigators said Escoto Vazquez had been in a relationship with Gonzalez-Nunez and is the father of both children found at the residence.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Escoto Vazquez is a Mexican national who entered the United States illegally in 2018 and was deported during President Donald Trump’s first administration before later reentering the country at an unknown date and location.
DHS said Escoto Vazquez had multiple prior arrests, including four DUI arrests. Following a June 2025 DUI arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer seeking custody of Escoto Vazquez, but federal officials said local authorities released him without notifying the agency.
After Escoto Vazquez’s arrest in the triple homicide case, ICE lodged another detainer seeking custody if he becomes eligible for release from the Stanislaus County Jail.
“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 [a] child after the fatal stabbings of a baby, the baby’s mother, and the baby’s grandmother,” Bis said. “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.”
Escoto Vazquez remains jailed without bail.
