BAKERSFIELD, CA (KUZZ) — Criminal proceedings have resumed against a Bakersfield man accused of torturing and murdering his daughter.
The defense attorney for Ray Mata, Jr., 31, says he won’t challenge the findings of a hearing declaring Mata competent to stand trial for allegedly killing Genesis Mata, 8.
The child’s body was discovered in a bathtub inside a guest room at La Quinta Inn on Riverside Drive in August 2025.
Mata and the girl’s stepmother Graciela Bustamonte, 28, are scheduled for trial September 21, 2026, on murder, torture, and related charges.
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