{"id":337981,"date":"2026-05-29T19:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T19:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337981\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T19:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T19:41:10","slug":"fresno-families-push-for-justice-after-reedley-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/337981\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno families push for justice after Reedley killings"},"content":{"rendered":"

After more than two years since a quadruple homicide<\/a> in Reedley rocked the Fresno County community, a mother continues to wait to see if the teen accused of the violence will be tried as an adult.<\/p>\n

Susan Grote said she has tried to be patient even as the hearings for the accused killer, who was 17 at the time, come and go about every other month with little detail.<\/p>\n

Since the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office charged the teen<\/a>, who is now at least 19, Grote has seen newer cases involving young offenders move along to the transfer hearing, where a judge rules whether the accused minor can be charged as an adult. Grote said she sympathizes with those cases, calling them \u201cheartbreaking,\u201d while she awaits progress in her family\u2019s ordeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like there was a barroom fight and somebody died. This was just cold-blooded, premeditated murder,\u201d the 60-year-old said.<\/p>\n

Grote\u2019s son, Matt Bonds, 43, and daughter-in-law, Guadalupe Chavez Bonds, 44, were among four killed<\/a> in a south Reedley neighborhood in January 2024. Bonds was found in a detached garage at the accused 17-year-old\u2019s home, which was next door to where Bonds lived with his wife of 24 years and the two other victims in the case, Bonds\u2019s father, Darrell Bonds, 61, and Bonds\u2019s grandfather, Billy Bonds, 81, according to Reedley police.<\/p>\n

Grote said she\u2019s been cautioned about what she can say about the case involving an accused teen offender, because she wants to protect the investigation. She said she also only knows so much and few details have come out of court.<\/p>\n

The information revealed during routine hearings can be sparse, but the hearings at the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center are particularly closed-lipped because minors have more protections<\/a> than accused adult offenders. In general, Grote\u2019s situation is common for juvenile criminal cases in California as the changes to the laws are relatively new and there is no specific timetable.<\/p>\n

Grote\u2019s frustration with the legal system has been compounded by another high-profile local case that has moved much faster than the Reedley case. Caleb Quick was killed by two teenaged offenders, according to Clovis police, on April 23, 2025, about 15 months after the killing of the Bonds family members.<\/p>\n

The teen girl charged in the Clovis case has already been through a transfer hearing<\/a>, and a teen boy accused in the case could go through the same process in early June.<\/p>\n

\"Susan Susan Grote’s son Mathew Bonds was one of four family members killed in January 2024. Grote is still waiting for a transfer hearing for the teen charged in the homicides. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was three generations (of DNA) \u2014 my son, his father and his grandfather \u2014 so I don\u2019t know if that makes it more difficult or not. We\u2019re not really getting clear answers on why ours is moving so slow,\u201d Grote said. \u201cWe have had a change in DAs, so that might even slow things down more, or it might speed it up. I don\u2019t know. We\u2019re hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is known about the Reedley quadruple homicide<\/p>\n

A Fresno County judge has ordered the teen\u2019s name to not be publicized outside the courtroom, only identifying him as R.I. when he first appeared in court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grote said she and other family members had not seen Matt Bonds or his wife the day before they were first discovered, and called police for a welfare check.<\/p>\n

Reedley police said three bodies were discovered about 9 a.m. Jan. 6, 2024, in the Reedley home owned by Billy Bonds in the 1100 block of Church near Dinuba avenues. The grandfather was in a shallow grave and a tarp covered the others, police said.<\/p>\n

The fourth body was found about 2:30 a.m. Jan. 9 in the garage of the home next door, according to police. The 17-year-old was arrested later that day, as was his 34-year-old mother. He\u2019s been charged with the four murders.<\/p>\n

R.I.\u2019s mother was initially arrested on suspicion of accessory after the fact, but she has not been charged with any crimes related to the Reedley case, according to Taylor Long, spokesperson for the Fresno County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Long noted Chief Deputy District Attorney Deborah Miller, who was prosecuting the case, recently retired. Long said that would likely mean the next hearing for R.I. \u2014 June 29 \u2014 would be continued as the new prosecutor gets caught up.<\/p>\n

\u201cCases of this magnitude require extensive investigation and careful review to ensure the integrity of the process and that justice is pursued responsibly,\u201d Long said. \u201cWhile we are limited in what we can publicly discuss due to the ongoing investigation, our office remains committed to seeking justice for the victims and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

She declined to discuss further why the Quick case in Clovis has moved along while the Bonds case in Reedley has lingered, citing a need to protect the investigation. The same goes for whether other people are still being investigated as potential conspirators.<\/p>\n

Matt Bonds and the teen accused of the quadruple murder<\/p>\n

Grote said her son had begun to interact with R.I. for three or four weeks before he was killed. Matt Bonds saw himself as something of a mentor to the young man, who was in need of jacket during the cold month, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized my son felt like he was his big brother and protective, because it was cold and he (Matt Bonds) went and bought him a jacket. He would bring him clothes and food, and you know, he just felt bad. It was a bad environment,\u201d Grote said. \u201cThe day that this happened, they were all playing RC (remote control) cars together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Susan Susan Grote’s son Mathew Bonds was one of four family members killed in January 2024. Grote is still waiting for a transfer hearing for the teen charged in the homicides. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

The grandfather was known as \u201cBanker Billy\u201d to many in his circle, Grote said, because he had a tendency to loan out money.<\/p>\n

Police said in the days after the killing that a safe in the home was empty and had been pried open. Neither police nor prosecutors have publicly discussed a potential motive other than to say the safe was known to hold money and guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way we want to get it over with, but in a way we\u2019re dreading it, because you saw what Stephen (Quick) had to go through and then for nothing,\u201d Grote said.<\/p>\n

Quick, the father of Caleb Quick in Clovis, was in the courtroom for several days of hearings to see the teen girl, Cassandra Michael, accused of being the getaway driver in the killing of the younger Quick remanded to the juvenile system by a Fresno judge, who denied the DA\u2019s request to try the girl who was 16 on the day of the accused crime as an adult.<\/p>\n

In the two years since the Reedley killings, Grote has become part of a network of families who lost loved ones to violence and are seeking justice. She said it began primarily with victims of young offenders, but has begun to expand.<\/p>\n

A major focus of the group is the repeal of Prop 57, which was adopted by voters in 2016.<\/p>\n

Advocates for Proposition 57<\/a> said it would amend the state constitution to allow parole consideration for nonviolent felons, and opponents argued it would endanger public safety through an early release of offenders convicted of violent crimes such as rape and assault with a deadly weapon.<\/p>\n

It also changed the process for transferring a minor accused of a crime from juvenile court to an adult trial. Prior to Prop 57, a district attorney made the decision on whether to file an adult case, but now the DA must ask a judge to allow it. The judge must decide if the request meets a high standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Grote and many of the families in the support group, like Stephen Quick, have worked with area politicians to push first for reform of Prop 57, but now are calling for a repeal. Those area leaders include Republican Assembly members Alexandra Macedo of Tulare (District 33) and David Tangipa of Fresno (District 8).<\/p>\n

Bonds\u2019s mom said she supports the idea of rehabilitation, but she\u2019s not convinced the state\u2019s system has shown it can do so for a young offender who has committed a serious crime. She said she\u2019d want R.I. to be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel in my heart, and it\u2019s taken me a while, I\u2019ve forgiven him because that\u2019s what God wants me to do, and I want to do that,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I still want him to pay for what he did to my child and the rest of his family, because it\u2019s just not, it\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Susan Susan Grote cleans the bench dedicated to her daughter-in-law Guadalupe \u201cKiki\u201d Chavez Bonds, located at Reedley Cemetery District Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in Reedley. Four family members including Grote’s son Mathew Bonds were found killed in January 2024. Grote is still waiting for a transfer hearing for the teen charged in the homicides. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Thaddeus Miller<\/a><\/p>\n

Merced Sun-Star<\/p>\n

Reporter Thaddeus Miller has covered cities in the central San Joaquin Valley since 2010, writing about everything from breaking news to government and police accountability. A native of Fresno, he joined The Fresno Bee in 2019 after time in Merced and Los Banos.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After more than two years since a quadruple homicide in Reedley rocked the Fresno County community, a mother…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-337981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}