CHOWCHILLA — 51-year-old father and convicted murderer Juan Armas Espinosa will spend the next seven years in prison until his next parole hearing, which dates back to his 1996 conviction for the murder of his girlfriend and mother of his children.
In 1996, Espinosa became enraged after attending a family funeral when he noticed that the front door was open. When his girlfriend insisted it remain open, he became so angry that he dragged her into the kitchen and stabbed her in the neck with a knife in front of their oldest daughter. The girl tried to get the knife away from him and ended up being injured herself.
She kept her distance as the other children discovered the horrific scene and saw their mother bleed to death on the kitchen floor.
Espinosa was later convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life, which meant he was up for parole this year. His daughters testified that their father should remain in prison, as did the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, given his violent nature.
And so it passed that Espinosa is to remain in prison until his next parole hearing in 2023.
