{"id":92553,"date":"2025-12-12T23:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T23:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/92553\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T23:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T23:58:09","slug":"trial-for-genesis-matas-father-and-stepmother-delayed-to-march-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/92553\/","title":{"rendered":"Trial for Genesis Mata’s father and stepmother delayed to March 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The trial of Ray Mata Jr. and Graciela Bustamonte<\/a>, accused of torturing and killing 8-year-old Genesis Mata, has been postponed to late March 2026, according to Kern County Superior Court officials.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS REPORTING: 8-year-old girl found dead in Bakersfield hotel bathtub; two arrested<\/a><\/p>\n

A readiness hearing is scheduled for March 20, with a tentative trial date set for March 30. The couple was initially set to appear in court on Thursday<\/a>, and their trial was set to start this month.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A death investigation is underway after a body was discovered inside the La Quinta Inn in central Bakersfield, according to the Bakersfield Police Department. This is a photo of the crime scene on August 2, 2025. PHOTO: KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

Mata Jr., the father, and Bustamonte, the stepmother, face seven felony charges, including murder, child cruelty, and torture, related to Genesis’s death in August. <\/p>\n

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Court documents reveal horrific abuse leading to death of 8-year-old girl<\/a><\/p>\n

The couple could face the death penalty if convicted.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A preliminary hearing for Ray Mata Jr. and Graciela Bustamonte, the couple accused of torturing and killing 8-year-old Genesis Mata, has been postponed until October. PHOTO: GoFundMe, KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, on Thursday, a woman who allegedly attacked Bustamonte in Lerdo Jail was sentenced<\/a> to two years and eight months in a CDCR prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The trial of Ray Mata Jr. and Graciela Bustamonte, accused of torturing and killing 8-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-92553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92553","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=92553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}