A Bakersfield father convicted of stabbing the mother of his two young daughters to death was in court Monday to be sentenced to a life term in prison, a month after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and other crimes. Victor Farias Jr., 34, was convicted in the killing of Yolanda Rojo, 30, who died after being stabbed nearly two dozen times inside her apartment while the couple’s daughters, ages 4 and 6, were home.
Rojo was killed at Shadow Ridge Apartments in the 7000 block of College Avenue, according to KGET 17 News. Police were dispatched to the scene on March 25. Farias did not live at the apartment, but a Ring camera captured him entering it with Rojo after the two had gone shopping with their daughters earlier that evening. The same camera recorded screams and loud noises coming from inside, the station reports.
A Child’s Plea Caught on Camera
According to the outlet’s account, the couple’s 6-year-old daughter was captured on a doorbell camera running from the apartment, followed by her father, as she cried out, “Stop! Stop doing that!” The girl later reentered the apartment and asked whether her mother was okay, the report states, before she and her younger sister ran to a neighbor for help.
When police arrived, they found Rojo motionless and covered in blood on the kitchen floor, her pulse faint. She was rushed to Kern Medical, where she was pronounced dead. Farias fled the scene in a black Nissan Altima before officers got there, colliding with a big rig on Highway 58 near Tehachapi. He abandoned the car and walked into the city before being arrested hours later on Tucker Road, the station’s report notes.
Conviction and Conflicting Accounts at Trial
Farias was found guilty of first-degree murder along with other crimes, including child abuse and resisting arrest, a Kern County jury determined, as reported by BakersfieldNow. The DA's office reported 69 sharp-force injuries on Rojo’s head, neck, and back, along with 23 stab wounds and numerous defensive wounds on her hands and arms.
At trial, prosecutor Leanne Wilder argued that Farias intended to kill with each thrust of the knife, continuing to stab Rojo as she tried to move away and fight him off, per the same account from the sentencing hearing. Defense attorney Teryl Wakeman did not deny that his client was the killer, but he argued Farias acted impulsively and without premeditation, contending at trial that second-degree murder was the more appropriate lesser charge.
Potential Prison Term
BakersfieldNow reported that Farias faced up to 25 years to life in prison, plus an additional year.
Under California Penal Code Section 190, a person convicted of second-degree murder faces 15 years to life in prison, except as otherwise provided by statute, according to California’s legislative code.
