POMONA, Calif.—A woman who pleaded no contest to murdering her boyfriend’s teenage son was sentenced Oct. 20 to 15 years to life in state prison.
Jessica Grajeda, 38, agreed to waive credit for the time she had already served behind bars up until her plea in August to the second-degree murder of 16-year-old George Luis Almaraz, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The boy’s father, George Luis Almaraz Flores, 34, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in state prison in connection with his no-contest plea to child endangerment.
Mr. Flores admitted an allegation that he permitted his son to suffer pain or injury resulting in death, along with the aggravating factors that the defendant held a position of trust over the victim and that the victim was vulnerable, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The teen’s mother, Catalina Alvarez, told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victor Martinez at Mr. Flores’s sentencing Thursday that she had learned from social media that her son—who would have graduated from high school this year—had been murdered.
“It has been a nightmare,” she said. “I wake up thinking of this incident and my son every day—the pain he suffered in the hands of these monsters for months and how afraid he must have been ... I trusted them to care for him and the person who was supposed to protect him failed.”
She said the prison terms were “not enough,” adding that it makes her “sick that our system thinks that is enough for murdering a child.”
Police were called to the defendants’ home in the 600 block of Del Rosa Place on June 1, 2021, in connection with reports of an individual in need of CPR and found the teenager not breathing, according to a statement released by the Pomona Police Department shortly after the teen’s death. The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Homicide investigators alleged that the youth had been assaulted by Ms. Grajeda just before the medical assistance call was made. The detectives also determined that the boy had been subjected to “significant injuries from abuse,” allegedly inflicted by Ms. Grajeda, prior to the call, according to the statement from the police department.
Police alleged that the boy’s father was aware of the abuse and did not take any action to stop it or seek medical attention for the boy.
Mr. Flores was initially released on electronic monitoring after his arrest but was later taken into custody again after the District Attorney’s Office filed murder and torture charges against him. Those counts were dismissed as a result of his plea.
