Youth Testifies About Brutal Slaying of Siblings

In a preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court, Jose Antonio Esquivel testified that his father, Marcos Esquivel, beat and kicked his 18-month-old sister, hurled her into a tub of cold water and then fatally slammed her against a wall because she wet her bed.

In addition to the brutal death of his sister, Guadalupe, the 13-year-old boy also testified that his father beat and kicked to death his 5-year-old brother, Ernesto. Under cross-examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. David Mintz, Jose Antonio testified that Esquivel left the boy’s body on the floor of their one-room Pacoima apartment and went to bed.

Esquivel, Jose Antonio’s aunt, Maria Ricardo, and three other children were seen burying Ernesto in the Angeles National Forest in March and promptly arrested.

Weeks later, Jose Antonio approached authorities and told them about his sister’s brutal death. He then led them to the spot where he had helped his father bury her in the woods. They then arrested his mother.

Esquivel has been charged with abusing and murdering the two children, and Jose Antonio’s mother, Petra Ricardo, and Maria Ricardo have been charged with child endangerment and accessories to murder.

Mintz said he intends to elevate the charges against Esquivel to capital murder by proving either that he committed multiple murders or that he tortured the children before killing them.