BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Bakersfield man has pleaded no contest to killing his wife’s cousin after a drunken argument and dumping her body in an almond orchard north of Superior Road and Stockdale Highway.
Jaime Regalado-Avalos, 45, on Thursday pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and faces 15 years to life in prison. A sentencing hearing is set for July 13.
His wife, Noralina Vasquez-Hernandez, pleaded no contest in 2024 to an accessory charge. She admitted to using bleach and other cleaning materials to wipe down their apartment on Normandy Drive after the killing.
Noralina Vasquez-Hernandez, file image
The body of Claudia Morales Vazquez, 33, was discovered the morning of April 26, 2024, and the couple were arrested that afternoon in Lebec as they headed to Mexico.
They first claimed they kicked out Vazquez — she’d been staying with them on Normandy Drive — and drove her to a Greyhound station.
Pressed by investigators, Vasquez-Hernandez changed her story. She said they’d been drinking and her husband became upset when her cousin started asking personal questions.
She told investigators Regalado-Avalos broke her cousin’s phone then ordered her to go to her bedroom and lock the door while he remained with Vazquez.
Soon after, Vasquez-Hernandez said, she heard what sounded like someone gasping for air.
“Vasquez-Hernandez said she opened the door and saw (Vazquez) on the ground, on her back,” an investigator wrote in court documents. “Regalado-Avalos was standing over her with his right foot pushing down on the left side of (Vazquez’s) neck.”
Vasquez-Hernandez said she removed her husband’s foot, but he grabbed a knife and ordered her back into the bedroom. She said she didn’t interfere further. Later, Regalado-Avalos carried Vasquez from the apartment, she said.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.