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Wednesday's Final Word
The father and stepmother of an 8-year-old California girl found dead in a hotel bathtub on Saturday appeared in court this week to enter not guilty pleas in the girl’s death.
Genesis Ariah Mata was found dead in a room at a La Quinta Inn in Bakersfield Saturday evening, KBAK reported. A probable cause statement says that Graciela Bustamonte, 27, and Ray Mata Jr., 31, were “working in tandem” over two days to torture the child, pouring scalding hot water on her that “caused ripping of the skin.”
The documents also say the pair crushed the girl’s hand, causing her fingernails to separate from her fingers.
Mata allegedly admitted to investigators that he punched the girl’s abdomen with his fist, ultimately causing her to lose consciousness and die. The documents say Bustamonte admitted that she participated in the tortuous acts.
Mata and Bustamonte, charged with first degree murder, willful cruelty to a child, and torture, were ordered held without bond and to return to court next month.
According to KGET, seven children were taken into protective custody after police found the dead girl’s body. A district attorney spokesperson said that two counts of child cruelty against the defendants refer to two different victims but did not identify the second victim.
Sabrina Guerrero, who identified herself as the victim’s cousin, told KGET that family members had called Child Protective Services more than 20 times about the family.
“It’s a bad situation and CPS needs to be held accountable for everything. Cause they were called on numerous occasions and went out and did investigations and completely left the whole case,” she said.
CPS and the Kern County Department of Human Services declined to answer questions about those allegations.
