In the wake of his death, his family members have lambasted the Department of Family and Children’s Services, saying they plan to sue.
This week, Rosen said he would investigate to determine if anyone else should be held liable in the case, including those at the agency or county.
“People in the public and myself as the DA would like to know who is responsible criminally, civilly, morally, ethically, and systemically for what happened in this case, because this is not the first time that this has happened,” Rosen said at a news conference on Monday.
“And I think that we should all be asking questions of county officials at the highest level,” he said. “Why are horrible and tragic crimes happening to children in the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children’s Services over and over and over again?”
Leaders at the San José/Silicon Valley NAACP have also demanded full investigations into what they called “the systemic failures of Santa Clara County’s child welfare system” and called for “structural accountability” up the chain of command.
In an April 20 statement, the civil rights organization said County Executive James Williams, Chief Operating Officer Greta Hansen, County Counsel Tony LoPresti, Social Services Agency Director Daniel Little, and DFCS Director Wendy Kinnear-Rausch all “bear individual and institutional responsibility for the conditions that produced these outcomes.”
The county, in an emailed response, didn’t address those allegations.
A crowd listens to District Attorney Jeff Rosen speak outside the Santa Clara County Juvenile Court in San José on April 20, 2026, where prosecutors announced charges against a San José teen accused of killing his two-year-old foster brother, Jaxon Juarez. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)
The organization’s complaint builds upon an earlier formal complaint that the organization said it filed with Rosen in July 2025, calling on his office to investigate county leaders in relation to the deaths of Castro and Walker. The NAACP said it did not receive a response.
The organization said the county “publicly dismissed the NAACP’s complaint as ‘a distraction,’ stating there was ‘no basis whatsoever’ to suggest criminal conduct.”
The county said that it is “investigating every aspect of this horrific tragedy” involving Jaxon and vowed to share its findings publicly when complete. It has also called on the state Department of Social Services to conduct its own investigation.
The state agency confirmed it is conducting an independent investigation into the case.
“Collectively, we must do better to support our most vulnerable children and youth to ensure they are safe and can thrive,” the agency said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “We are committed to working with our county partners, local agencies, other state departments, families, communities, and advocates across the state to continuously improve California’s child welfare system.”