A Borrego Springs man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the November 2023 killing of his mother, whose partially dismembered body was found stuffed inside a closet in his bedroom. Jacob Guevara, now 44, faces sentencing in October.
The victim, 63-year-old Leona Guevara, was reported missing after her daughter — Jacob's sister — arrived at the family's Borrego Springs home planning a visit on November 18, 2023, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Jacob initially told his sister that their mother had taken a sleeping pill and might be out for two to three days, the paper reported. When his sister found Leona's shoes still by the front door and a puddle of blood in her mother's bedroom, Jacob changed his story, claiming his mother had left the house and he didn't know where she'd gone.
A Grim Discovery Inside a Closet
His sister contacted law enforcement, and a sheriff's deputy who searched the home ultimately found Leona's body inside the closet of Jacob's bedroom, per the Union-Tribune's reporting. She had suffered a deep horizontal laceration across her throat, and both of her hands and one of her legs had been cut off. San Diego County Sheriff's Department records confirm that deputies performed the welfare check that day in the 2800 block of Borrego Springs Road, where fire department personnel pronounced Leona dead at 3:15 p.m., according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Jacob Guevara, then 41, was arrested that day on suspicion of murder and booked into the Vista Detention Facility without bail, sheriff's records show. Investigators later determined that his internet search history included searches related to stabbing someone in the throat and dismemberment, conducted the night before his mother's body was discovered, the Union-Tribune reported.
A Shifting Story and a Blamed Houseguest
Guevara initially told investigators that a man staying at the home was responsible for his mother's murder. The station's report notes that Jacob had allowed a homeless man and woman to stay at the home for about a month, and that he had called police to remove the pair after an argument over money — though the two were not ultimately evicted. That night, the man and woman stayed at a friend's house rather than the Guevara home, and they didn't return to the property until the morning of November 18, after Leona's body had already been discovered that afternoon. During an earlier confrontation, the homeless woman had reportedly threatened Jacob, telling him, “I'm about to go in there and kill him.”
Jacob Guevara pleaded not guilty to murder at his arraignment days after his arrest, when prosecutors attached a deadly weapon sentence enhancement that pushed his potential sentencing exposure to up to 26 years to life, according to Times of San Diego. Sheriff's Department officials later positively identified the victim, as reported by Sierra Sun Times.
Community Remembers a Former Resort Worker
In the days after her death, a GoFundMe memorial fund created by family friend Tiffany Vega identified the victim as Leona Guevara and sought community contributions to honor her memory. Family tributes remembered her.
Borrego Springs is an unincorporated desert community of roughly 3,400 permanent residents. The area's nearest hospital emergency room sits roughly 50 miles west in Poway, per Solv Health, leaving the isolated enclave reliant on distant medical infrastructure. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department responded to the case.
Jacob Guevara is slated to be sentenced in October.
