A Kern County jury convicted Victor Farias Jr. of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Yolanda Rojo.

A first-degree murder verdict is the jury's finding on the evidence, and sentencing is the next step. KBAK/KBFX and 23ABC reported Farias faces 25 years to life in prison plus an additional year. The child-abuse count was for inflicting mental suffering on his daughters, ages 6 and 4, who prosecutors said were present during the attack.

KBAK/KBFX, 23ABC, and The Bakersfield Californian reported, citing the Kern County District Attorney's Office, that a Kern County jury on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, found Victor Farias Jr. guilty of the first-degree willful, premeditated, and deliberate murder of Yolanda Rojo, 30, the mother of his children. The jury also found true that Farias was armed with a knife, and convicted him of inflicting mental-suffering child abuse on his daughters, ages 6 and 4, and of resisting arrest, KBAK/KBFX reported. Law&Crime reported the verdict followed a two-week trial. A verdict is the jury's decision. Sentence has not been imposed.

According to the DA's office, as reported by KBAK/KBFX, Bakersfield police were called just before 10 p.m. on March 25, 2026, to a domestic dispute in the 7000 block of College Avenue and found Rojo on the floor with a slight pulse and multiple stab wounds. She was taken to Kern Medical, where she was pronounced dead. The DA's office said she suffered 69 sharp force injuries to her head, neck, and back, along with 23 stab wounds and numerous defensive wounds on her hands and arms, and that the coroner found three of the stab wounds caused fractures to her skull and neck. That is the prosecution's account of the evidence the jury heard.

The DA's office said both children witnessed the attack, KBAK/KBFX reported. Prosecutors said Rojo called for the 6-year-old to help her, that the girl tried to call for help on her mother's phone and Farias took it from her, and that Rojo then told the girl to run to a neighbor. A doorbell camera recorded Rojo's screams as the child ran from the apartment, and Farias chased the girl to try to stop her from getting help, the DA's office said. Prosecutors said he then drove east on Highway 58 toward Tehachapi, sideswiped a big rig about a mile west of the Tuck Road exit, crashed into an embankment, and disappeared into the Tehachapi Mountains. 23ABC reported he was arrested the next day in Tehachapi after an extensive search, and the DA's office said he resisted arrest and gave officers a false name.

"Victor Farias took Yolanda's life believing he could silence her and conceal the truth," Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in a statement reported by KBAK/KBFX and Law&Crime. "However, through the courage of her young children and the evidence recovered at the crime scene, Farias was ultimately found guilty of her premeditated murder, ensuring that Yolanda and her children obtained the justice they deserve." Farias is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2, 2026. The DA's office noted the verdict came during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Anyone experiencing domestic violence can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.