Man gets life sentence for killing Stockton mother, 2 sons in fire

The man who admitted to setting a mobile home on fire in Stockton, California, killing a mother and two of her young sons, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jose Carmen Cardona pleaded guilty on Monday and was sentenced to life without parole for three counts of premeditated, deliberate and willful first-degree murder, the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office announced. Each life sentence will be served consecutively.

Cardona also received a consecutive life sentence for premeditated, deliberate and willful attempted murder involving the only surviving child. A child abuse count was stayed because it involved the same victim as the attempted murder charge, prosecutors said.

In addition, Cardona was convicted of arson of an inhabited structure with a special circumstance that the arson caused great bodily injury to more than one victim, as well as two counts of vandalism for damage to two residences.

Cardona threatened to kill Lizbeth Gutierrez-Salazar after she ended their two-year relationship on June 24, 2024, and took her three sons — Max, 14, Julian, 10, and Juan, 7 — to stay at her father's home.

Shortly after 6 a.m. the next morning, the Stockton Fire Department responded to a residential fire along Visalia Court near Harbor Street. After putting out the flames, firefighters entered the mobile home and found three victims inside: Gutierrez-Salazar and her sons, Julian and Juan. All three died as a result of the fire.

The surviving child, Max, told investigators he woke up to a noise and saw Cardona inside the residence, prosecutors said. Max said that he had run after him, and that is when the home became engulfed in flames and he heard his mother screaming. A neighboring home was also damaged in the fire.

Cardona was arrested in Modesto the month after the fire.

Authorities had previously said Gutierrez-Salazar and Cardona were married, but later clarified she was his ex-spouse.

District Attorney Ron Freitas said the plea ensures Cardona will spend the rest of his life in prison and provides finality for the victims' family.

"While no sentence can ever bring back this devoted mother and her children or erase the pain inflicted on their surviving family, the defendant's decision to accept responsibility provides an immediate and final resolution in this case and ensures he will face severe, permanent consequences for these heinous crimes," Freitas said in a statement. "At the request of the victims' family, we respected their wishes in reaching this conclusion."