SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —
The trial for a Sacramento suspect charged in the murders of his wife, two children and niece will move forward.
Salvador Vasquez-Oliva was 56 years old at the time of the March 2017 murders. He was arrested shortly after the murders in the Bay Area. Investigators said he confessed to family members about the killings.
His wife, 45-year-old Angelique Vasquez and their 11-year-old son Alvin, 14-year-old daughter Mia and 21-year-old niece Ashley Coleman were found dead inside their South Land Park home.
"I was the godmother to Mia and Alvin. I was in the wedding of Angelique and
that man," Christiane Medina said. “They were sweet kids. Mia was just
starting adolescence. Alvin loved his grandpa. Mia looked up to Ashley as her
older cousin, and they had a really sweet relationship."
A motive behind the killings is still unknown.
“(Angelique) was always full of love and optimism," Medina said. "Seeing the best in people. Big heart, really big heart, and a beautiful laugh too."
Medina, along with several loved ones, was in court Friday to support Angelique Vasquez’s parents, who are in their 80s and haven’t been able to bring themselves to attend the hearings.
"They lost most of their family,” Medina said. “To someone they opened the door to and welcomed in their home."
Family members did not want to get into the marriage dynamic between the couple.
"I'm here because of them. Because they didn't get a chance,” Medina said. "It's important for us to be here (Friday) to let them know that we are not forgetting, and he needs to be held accountable for what he did."
Vasquez-Oliva used a blunt force instrument against his children, whose bodies were found in the garage bound by the legs with a plastic bag over their heads, according to prosecutors.
Angelique Vasquez was reportedly killed with blunt force and lacerations with a sharp object. Coleman was killed with a knife, according to the criminal complaint. Both adults were found in the living room.
"I both pray and I am very angry,” Medina said. "I can't imagine anybody doing that. To their own children. To the wife who he always said he loved."
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, which Vasquez-Oliva’s public defender, Linda Parisi, is contesting.
Vasquez-Oliva used a Spanish interpreter during the hearing. However, he was employed by the California Employment Development Department as an office technician, and friends of the victims said Angelique Vasquez did not speak Spanish.
The prosecution is planning for the trial to begin in August 2019
