Example of a knife, not the one used in the killings. Photo via Pixabay
A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing his three young sons inside an SUV in South Los Angeles five years ago.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench immediately sentenced Luiz Fuentes to 78 years to life in state prison following his plea to three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of his sons, who were 8, 9 and 11 years old, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The Los Angeles man also admitted allegations that he used a knife during the Sept. 9, 2015, attack, and a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Prosecutors had opted earlier not to seek the death penalty against Fuentes.
A passerby found the bodies of the widower’s sons — Alexander, Juan and Luis — inside an SUV parked in the 300 block of East 32nd Street.
Fuentes was covered in blood and suffering from stab wounds that people said were self-inflicted. He was hospitalized, then booked on suspicion of murder two days later.
A pastor said during a vigil at the scene that Fuentes had been having financial problems and was living in the SUV with the boys, whose mother died in 2008.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Fuentes had been suffering from depression, and that the county Department of Children and Family Services was investigating whether social workers adequately probed some allegations that the boys were at risk and whether staff responded appropriately to what they learned.
A hotline call to DCFS in September 2010 reporting abuse of the children led social workers to determine that the allegation was true, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous officials with the department.
Lawyers for the DCFS petitioned the juvenile court to open a case, officials told The Times, and the boys remained in the father’s home until the case was closed about a year later.
Two more hotline calls alleging physical abuse were apparently made in April 2014. Social workers who investigated the allegations subsequently marked the claims “inconclusive.”
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