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Insets, top: Jose Carmen Cardona (Stockton Police). Bottom, from left: Lizbeth Gutierrez-Salazar, Juan Gutierrez-Salazar and Julian Cardona-Gutierrez (San Joaquin County District Attorney”s Office). Background: Trailer in Stockton, California, Cardona set on fire, killing three people (KXTV).
A man from California, distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, set fire to her father’s home, resulting in the tragic deaths of the woman and her two young sons, aged 7 and 10.
Jose Carmen Cardona admitted guilt on Monday to charges including three counts of first-degree murder, as well as counts of attempted murder, child abuse, arson, and vandalism, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office. He received a life sentence for the murders of Lizbeth Gutierrez-Salazar, 32, and her sons, 10-year-old Juan Gutierrez-Salazar and 7-year-old Julian Cardona-Gutierrez.
The incident followed a breakup on June 24, 2024, when Gutierrez-Salazar ended her two-year relationship with Cardona. After Cardona made threats on her life, Gutierrez-Salazar sought refuge with her father in Stockton, California, taking her three sons with her.
Early the following morning, at 6:17 a.m., the Stockton Fire Department responded to reports of a blaze. Upon extinguishing the fire, firefighters discovered the lifeless bodies of Gutierrez-Salazar and her two sons. Her surviving son, then 14, recounted to investigators that he awoke to a disturbance and saw Cardona inside the trailer.
“As he chased after Cardona, his mother’s screams rang out and he saw flames consuming the home,” prosecutors detailed. The fire also spread, damaging a nearby residence.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Cardona days later, after the fire was deemed arson and identified Cardona as the suspect. Authorities arrested Cardona on July 11, 2024.
“Today, we have secured a measure of justice for Lizbeth Gutierrez-Salazar and her two innocent young sons, Juan and Julian, whose lives were brutally taken in an act of unimaginable cruelty while they slept in their own home,” San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said in a statement. “While no sentence can ever bring back this devoted mother and her children or erase the pain inflicted on their surviving family, the defendant’s decision to accept responsibility provides an immediate and final resolution in this case and ensures he will face severe, permanent consequences for these heinous crimes. At the request of the victims’ family, we respected their wishes in reaching this conclusion. Our hearts remain with them as they continue to grieve, and we will always stand ready to hold accountable those who commit such violence against the most vulnerable among us.”