The Kern County Sheriffs Office says the stepmother of Genesis Mata, 8, was attacked in jail. Officials say Graciela Bustamonte, 27, was assaulted August 8, 2025, by another inmate and was taken to a hospital then returned to custody. Charges are pending against the suspect identified as Anita Doron. Bustamonte and the child’s father, Ray…… Read More
Nearly five thousand people have signed a petition demanding an independent investigation into Kern County’s Child Protective Services. The petition calls for a probe into the department following the torture and murder of Genesis Mata, 8, allegedly by her father and stepmother. The petition on Change.org was launched on August 5, 2025, by Josefina Villarreal…… Read More
A judge has delayed the preliminary hearing for a Bakersfield couple accused of torturing and killing an 8-year-old girl. Ray Mata, Jr., 31, and Graciela Bustamonte, 27, are set to appear in court October 16, 2025. Mata and Bustamonte are the father and stepmother of Genesis Mata whose abandoned body was discovered August 2 in…… Read More
A former Kern County Sheriff’s deputy will spend more than five years in prison for numerous sex crimes. A judge on Thursday sentenced Michael Clark to five years and eight months, denied his request for a new trial, and ordered a 10-year restraining order and restitution to his victims. Clark was convicted in June on…… Read More
A man who admitted to sexual battery after attacking a woman in northeast Bakersfield has been sentenced to four years in prison. Anton Hill, 24 , learned his fate Thursday after he tried to rape the woman who reported being attacked from behind and sexually assaulted while she was exercising in the 10000 block of…… Read More
Bakersfield Police Department officers are looking for a man and woman who stole items from a residence in the 1300 block of Dunaire Drive on Wednesday. The suspects are described as a white female in her fifties with floral tattoos on her left forearm, and a white man in his fifties with brown hair and…… Read More
An inmate at North Kern State Prison in Delano was sentenced Wednesday to 85 years to life for killing his cell mate. Willy Clay, 36, learned his fate after being convicted of first degree murder and aggravated assault in the death of Lawrence Tate, 63, on January 1, 2020. Staff found Tate critically injured inside…… Read More
The Kern County Board of Education voted on Tuesday to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The controversy comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed last month by the Justice Department against California for allegedly violating civil rights law by allowing transgender athletes to compete on girls’…… Read More
A 19-year-old man was shot and killed during a suspected drug deal in southwest Bakersfield that officials say was set up on Instagram. Police found Landen Worthy dead inside a Chrysler 300 in the 4600 block of Roberta Way July 27, 2025. Investigators say Marlow Maize, 18, was linked to the killing through surveillance video,…… Read More
A petition demanding an independent investigation into Kern County Child Protective Services has collected 1,055 signatures. It comes in response to the death of Genesis Mata, 8, whose body was found August 2 in a bathtub inside a central Bakersfield motel. The petition was launched by Josephina Villareal whose nephew died from abuse. She says…… Read More
