‘My only son’: Family mourns 13-year-old killed at Madera quinceañera

MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A Madera mother is sharing her story for the first time since her 13-year-old son was killed at a quinceañera last summer.

Jacob Muñoz was stabbed to death at the party on July 6, 2024.

His mother, Samantha Bautista, says life without her only son has been a daily struggle.

“Jacob was my only son,” Bautista said. “He’s a light in my world, even though he’s not here; he still shines bright in my world. I want to be able to shed light on him.”

Since his death, Bautista has joined other Central Valley parents in protesting Proposition 57, a law they say enables teens to commit more serious crimes.

Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno agrees. She says Prop 57 removed critical discretion prosecutors had in trying juveniles as adults and instead shifted decisions to judges.

“What Prop 57 did is it took discretion away from prosecutors, to try juveniles as adults,” Moreno said. “If we want to give these juvenile offenders an opportunity to change, they need longer. They need to be removed from their environment that they came out of for longer than this.”

In Jacob’s case, Bautista says the teen accused of killing him will serve less than four years.

“He’ll be out in almost four years. Who’s not to say he’ll do it again?” Bautista said. “There’s definitely not closure. He didn’t give me an apology letter, nor did he seem remorseful.”

Jacob’s family remembers him as smart, funny, and loving.

A public celebration of life will be held in memory of Jacob Muñoz and other children at Valley Children’s Hospital on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m.; the Prop 57 parents will be protesting the proposition on Oct. 11 on Blackstone and Nees avenues in Fresno.