Prosecutors say the 2-year-old boy was repeatedly abused after being placed with relatives in Santa Clara County’s foster care system.
SAN JOSE, CA — A San Jose teenager has been charged with murder in the death of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez, a foster child known to supporters as “Baby Jaxon,” after prosecutors said the boy was sexually and physically abused for weeks inside a relative’s home before he died this month.
The new charge, filed Monday in juvenile court, sharply raises the stakes in a case that had already drawn anger over Santa Clara County’s troubled child welfare system. Prosecutors say the suspect, who was 17 at the time and has since turned 18, was Jaxon’s cousin and foster brother. District Attorney Jeff Rosen is seeking to move the case into adult court, while county officials face growing questions about why Jaxon was placed in a home tied to a prior child endangerment conviction.
Authorities said San Jose police found Jaxon unresponsive in his crib on April 5 at the foster family home. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors found what police described as several suspicious traumatic injuries. Three days later, investigators arrested the foster mother’s then-17-year-old son on sexual assault allegations. Jaxon remained hospitalized and was removed from life support on April 9, according to news reports and officials. On April 20, prosecutors announced they had added murder and other felony counts, saying the evidence showed the toddler had been repeatedly assaulted after he was placed in the home in February. Rosen told reporters outside juvenile court that “the rape and murder of a child are two of the most serious crimes that we prosecute,” and said the case belongs in the adult criminal system.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said the teen now faces 10 felony allegations in all, including murder, child assault causing death, assault with a hair tie and multiple sexual assault counts, including forced sodomy. Because the suspect was a minor at the time of the alleged crimes, prosecutors have not publicly identified him. Officials say Jaxon was also the suspect’s cousin. During a brief but emotional court hearing Monday, supporters of the boy listened as the new charges were outlined. Evangeline Dominguez-Estrada, a friend of Jaxon’s late mother, said afterward that the child “did not deserve this” and should have been protected. A full autopsy is still pending, and prosecutors have not publicly released an official cause of death. Rosen said his office has preliminary medical indications but declined to describe them. That leaves some key details unresolved even as the criminal case moves forward.
The case has also become a test of public confidence in Santa Clara County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, which has faced state oversight since 2023 after other child deaths under its watch. Rosen said Jaxon is the third child in the last several years to die while in the care and custody of the county department. He said his office is examining not only the actions of the teen defendant, but also whether anyone else may bear criminal responsibility. Jaxon had been living in county custody after a series of family disruptions. According to reporting by KQED, he had first lived with a foster family and then with a maternal grandparent near Sacramento for about six months before he was moved again. His mother, Brianna Burton, died last year, and his father, Albert Juarez, was not caring for him at the time he entered foster care. That history has deepened questions about why the final placement, made only weeks before Jaxon’s death, ended in violence.
Much of the scrutiny has centered on Bridget Michelle Martinez, the relative who was caring for Jaxon when he was injured. Court and police records cited by local news outlets show Martinez had a 2014 felony conviction for child endangerment and a misdemeanor DUI after authorities found her driving with a 1-year-old child while allegedly intoxicated. County policy, according to KQED, bars placement of a child with someone who has that felony record, even in an emergency. It remains unclear how Jaxon came to be placed there. Martinez was briefly arrested during the investigation and later released, and no new public charges against her had been announced as of Monday. Rosen said investigators are looking at “everyone who may bear responsibility,” including possible responsibility inside and outside the county agency. A county spokesperson, Elma Gallotta, called Jaxon’s death deeply tragic and said the county is conducting a full review of policies, protocols and staff actions. She also said the county requested an independent investigation by the California Department of Social Services.
Family members have said the system failed the boy long before prosecutors added a murder count. Riley Wallace, Jaxon’s aunt, told local outlets that relatives were devastated and believed the county never should have placed him in Martinez’s home. Wallace said the family is considering legal action against the agency. In public comments, Rosen struck a similar tone, saying the case raises criminal, civil, moral, ethical and systemic questions. Child welfare experts also say the placement itself demands answers. Steve Baron, a member of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council speaking in a personal capacity, told KQED that the agency should be reviewing whether policies were missed or bypassed and making changes immediately if they were. For now, though, the clearest next step is procedural. Prosecutors have filed to transfer the case from juvenile court to adult court, a move NBC Bay Area reported could take two to three months if a judge approves it. If the case stays in juvenile court and the allegations are sustained, the defendant could face up to seven years in Secure Track, a locked juvenile facility. If it is moved, he could face a much longer adult prison sentence.
Outside court Monday, the grief around Jaxon was visible in the faces of supporters who came to hear the charges. Some carried with them the memory of a child whose life had already been marked by instability before his final weeks. The language used by prosecutors was stark: Rosen described police finding Jaxon’s “small, bruised and battered body” on April 5. That description, along with the allegation that a hair tie was used in one assault, has made the case especially disturbing even in a county already shaken by earlier failures in child protection. Yet many parts of the story remain unsettled. Authorities have not explained who approved the placement, what warnings may have been visible in advance, or whether any county workers will face consequences. Those unanswered questions now sit beside the criminal prosecution, ensuring that the case is likely to remain a measure of both personal accountability and institutional failure in Santa Clara County.
As of Tuesday, the teen remained charged in juvenile court while prosecutors pursued a transfer to adult court, and the autopsy and broader investigation were still pending. The next major milestone is a court appearance expected on May 21, when the closely watched case is likely to return to court amid continuing scrutiny of the county’s foster care system.
Author note: Last updated April 21, 2026.