Santa Clara County officials have not explained how Jaxon Juarez was placed with a caregiver who had a felony child endangerment conviction.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Weeks before 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez died in a San Jose foster home, Santa Clara County placed him with a relative whose past felony child endangerment conviction has become a key focus of the investigation.
The county’s child welfare agency is now under pressure to explain how the placement was approved, what records workers reviewed and whether policy was followed. The criminal case centers on Martinez’s teenage son, who prosecutors say was Jaxon’s foster brother and cousin. He is charged in juvenile court with murder and several assault counts tied to Jaxon’s death.
Jaxon’s path through foster care began after his mother, Brianna Burton, died in 2025, according to relatives. His aunt, Riley Wallace, said the boy first lived with another foster family, then spent about six months with his maternal grandfather near Sacramento. That arrangement ended, Wallace said, because Santa Clara County wanted regular visits near the South Bay with Jaxon’s father, Albert Juarez. The county later placed Jaxon in late February with Bridget Michelle Martinez, a relative on his father’s side. Wallace said relatives in Arizona asked to take the child but were not approved because of distance from the father and because the boy had not been placed for adoption. “They did not protect a child, and that’s their job,” Wallace said.
The concern over Martinez’s home is tied to records from 2014. Police and court records cited in local reporting said officers found Martinez stopped in the right lane of San Tomas Expressway in Santa Clara with her 1-year-old daughter in the car. A police summary said Martinez had red, watery eyes, slurred speech and the odor of alcohol. She later pleaded no contest to felony child endangerment and misdemeanor DUI. Court records also showed she had a suspended license stemming from a 2011 DUI conviction, and filings said officials accused her that same year of falsifying an alcohol monitoring test by having her juvenile son take it. Martinez also faced another DUI charge in Stanislaus County in 2020.
That history matters because county policy, as described in local reporting, bars a child from being placed with someone who has a felony child endangerment conviction, even in an emergency. County officials have not said whether staff missed the conviction, knew about it and approved the placement anyway, or relied on information that was incomplete. They also have not said who signed off on Jaxon’s move into the home or whether any safety plan was in place. Steve Baron, a member of Santa Clara County’s Child Abuse Prevention Council, said the agency must answer those basic questions. “Were they aware of those records? And if not, why not? Because they should have been,” Baron said.
Jaxon was found April 5, Easter Sunday, after just weeks in the home. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said San Jose police found the toddler’s small body bruised and battered. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said a ponytail holder was found around Jaxon’s neck, leading to a felony assault charge involving a hair tie. Prosecutors said evidence showed the child had been repeatedly assaulted, both sexually and physically, after he entered the foster home in February. Jaxon was taken to a hospital and placed on life support. He died April 9. Prosecutors said a full autopsy was pending when they announced the murder charge on April 20.
The accused teen’s name has not been made public because he was 17 at the time and remains charged in juvenile court. The district attorney’s office described him as a young San Jose man who had recently turned 18. Prosecutors charged him with murder, child assault causing death, assault with a hair tie and multiple sexual assault counts, including counts already filed before the homicide case was added. Rosen said the office is seeking to transfer the case to adult court. If the juvenile petition is found true, the teen could face seven years in Secure Track, a locked juvenile facility. If the case moves to adult court, prosecutors said he could face many years in prison.
The placement review is separate from the prosecution, but the two tracks are moving together in public view. County officials said they are conducting an internal investigation and have asked the California Department of Social Services to perform an independent review. The county called the case “deeply concerning” and said it would publicly share findings when available and when allowed by law. Officials have not released the child welfare case file, the placement checklist, the background check results or the names of workers and supervisors involved. Some information is likely to remain confidential because child welfare records and juvenile court files are generally protected.
Jaxon’s death has intensified criticism of Santa Clara County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, which already was under state oversight after earlier child deaths. Rosen said Jaxon was the third foster child since 2023 to be murdered while under the care and custody of the county system. He named Baby Phoenix, a 3-month-old who died after ingesting drugs, as one of the children whose death had raised alarms. County officials previously said they were making reforms under a corrective action plan, including changes meant to balance family reunification with child safety. Baron said those reforms do not erase the need to explain this placement. “It’s critical that whatever placement they decide, the first consideration should be, is it safe?” he said.
Wallace and other relatives have said the family wants accountability from the agency that placed Jaxon. Wallace said her Arizona household had room and could have cared for him. The decision to keep him closer to his father, she said, left him in a home that relatives believe should have been ruled out. The county has not publicly responded to each claim made by the family. Martinez was arrested during the investigation, local reports said, but she was no longer in custody as of the first reports. The public record does not show that she has been charged in connection with Jaxon’s death.
The next answers may come from three places: the juvenile court handling the teen’s charges, the county review of the placement and the state’s independent inquiry. Each could reveal different parts of the same timeline. The court case could determine criminal responsibility. The county and state reviews could determine whether workers broke policy, missed records or approved a move that should not have happened. Rosen said the case left “serious questions” about who was watching out for vulnerable children.
For now, Jaxon’s death remained under investigation, the autopsy findings had not been fully released and prosecutors were still seeking adult court review for the teen suspect. The county had promised public findings, but no final report had been issued.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.