The accused teen was 17 when police found the toddler injured in a San Jose foster home.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Santa Clara County prosecutors are asking a judge to move an 18-year-old’s murder case to adult court after charging him with killing his 2-year-old foster brother and cousin, Jaxon Juarez.
The court decision could sharply change the punishment the suspect faces. In juvenile court, prosecutors said he could face seven years in Secure Track if the petition is found true. In adult court, the district attorney’s office said he could face many years in prison. The suspect’s name has not been released because he was 17 at the time and is charged in juvenile court.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced the murder charge April 20, more than two weeks after San Jose police found Jaxon in a crib on Easter Sunday. Prosecutors said the child’s body was bruised and battered when officers found him April 5. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said at a news conference that a ponytail holder was found around the toddler’s neck, which led to a felony assault charge involving a hair tie. Jaxon was taken to a hospital, placed on life support and died April 9. Rosen said the case was “terrible and horrific,” and the office said a full autopsy was still pending when the charges were announced.
The juvenile petition includes murder, child assault causing death and assault with a hair tie, according to prosecutors. It also includes several felony counts tied to sexual assault. The district attorney’s office said multiple sexual assault counts, including forced sodomy, had already been filed before the murder charge was added. Prosecutors said evidence showed Jaxon had been repeatedly assaulted, sexually and physically, after he was placed in the foster family home in February. The exact dates of the alleged attacks have not been publicly detailed. Officials also have not released the full medical evidence, police reports or juvenile court filings because of legal limits tied to the suspect’s age and the child welfare investigation.
The suspect was a minor at the time of the alleged killing but had turned 18 by the time prosecutors announced the homicide charge. Rosen said his office wants the case transferred to adult court because of the gravity of the allegations. A judge will have to decide whether the case should remain in juvenile court or proceed under the adult criminal system. That process is separate from whether the allegations are later proven. No trial date has been publicly announced. The court will also have to handle sealed records and victim privacy issues while allowing the prosecution and defense to argue over age, conduct, public safety and the law governing youth defendants.
Jaxon’s foster placement is part of the wider story around the criminal case. The toddler had been placed in late February with Bridget Michelle Martinez, the mother of the accused teen and a relative of Jaxon’s father. Jaxon’s aunt, Riley Wallace, said the boy entered county custody after his mother, Brianna Burton, died in 2025. Wallace said he first lived with another foster family, then with his maternal grandfather near Sacramento. She said the grandfather could not keep caring for him because the county required regular visits in the South Bay. Wallace said relatives in Arizona asked to take Jaxon but were rejected because of distance from his father. “We have the room,” Wallace said. “We have the capability of taking him.”
Martinez’s background has become a major part of the county review. Police and court records described in local reporting show she was convicted in 2014 of felony child endangerment and misdemeanor DUI after officers found her stopped in a traffic lane with her 1-year-old daughter in the car. Records said she had a prior DUI conviction from 2011, a suspended license and another DUI charge in 2020. Local reporting also cited county policy saying a felony child endangerment conviction prohibits placement of a child in that person’s care, even during an emergency. County officials have not explained how Jaxon was placed with Martinez or whether workers knew about her conviction before the move.
While the court case focuses on the accused teen, county leaders and child welfare officials are reviewing decisions made before police arrived at the home. Santa Clara County said both law enforcement and the Department of Family and Children’s Services are investigating, and the county requested an independent review by the California Department of Social Services. The county called Jaxon’s death “deeply concerning” and said it would share results when it could. Prosecutors have said the investigation into Jaxon’s death continues. That means additional records, findings or actions could emerge outside the juvenile case, including personnel decisions or policy changes.
The case has also reopened questions from earlier child deaths connected to Santa Clara County’s child welfare system. Rosen said Jaxon was the third foster child since 2023 to have been murdered under the care and custody of the county’s Department of Family and Children’s Services. He said Jaxon’s name now stands alongside Baby Phoenix and others. Baby Phoenix, a 3-month-old, died in 2023 after ingesting fentanyl and methamphetamine. Her death led to public hearings and calls for reform. County officials had said they were working under state oversight and a corrective action plan before Jaxon died. The new case has raised doubts about whether those changes were enough.
Child welfare expert Steve Baron, a member of the county’s Child Abuse Prevention Council, said the review should not stop at the criminal allegations. He said officials must look at how placement choices are made and what workers do when records show possible safety risks. “If they were aware of those records, and they placed the child there anyway, what was their rationale for doing that?” Baron said. If they were not aware, he said, the county must explain why not. Baron said the basic placement test should be whether the home is safe and whether caregivers can meet the child’s needs.
Rosen’s public comments gave the case both a courtroom frame and a broader public warning. “Jaxon will never have a chance at life,” he said. “Jaxon will never have any way to tell his own story.” Relatives have echoed that anger and grief, saying the boy should not have been sent to the home where he died. Wallace said her family would have taken him “in a heartbeat” if the county had allowed it. County officials have not released a final placement review or a complete timeline of worker decisions.
The next court milestone is the transfer question, which will decide where the case proceeds. As of May 10, the suspect remained unnamed in public records, the juvenile case was active, the autopsy had not been fully released and county and state reviews were pending.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.