Fresno County judge sends father, son to trial in double murder case
The double-murder case against a father and son cleared a key hurdle Wednesday, moving the case toward a Fresno County jury.
A Fresno County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors have enough evidence to send a father and son to trial on double-murder charges, moving the case out of the preliminary stage and into the jury-trial track in Fresno County. The ruling means the pair will now face a jury, not just a judge, on charges that have already survived the first courtroom test.
That first test is a preliminary hearing, and California courts say its purpose is limited: a judge decides whether there is enough evidence for the case to go forward, not whether the defendants are guilty. Once a defendant is held to answer, California rules require the information to be filed within 15 days, and the trial date is then set in the felony process that follows arraignment. Under California court guidance, a felony trial must start within 60 days of arraignment on the information unless the defendant waives time or the court grants a continuance for good cause.
In practical terms, that means Fresno families are likely looking at weeks to a few months before a jury hears the case, depending on pretrial motions, scheduling and whether either side asks for more time. California court rules give both sides room to file motions before trial, and the trial calendar can move when lawyers need additional hearing dates or the court finds good cause for a delay.
The ruling also lands in a county that has seen other father-son homicide cases in recent years. In July 2024, Fresno County sheriff’s homicide detectives arrested 38-year-old Javier Medina on a murder charge and his 61-year-old father, also named Javier Medina, as an accessory after Antonio Torres Ochoa was found dead in a corn field near Shields and Fairfax avenues outside Mendota. The sheriff’s office called that killing an isolated incident and said investigators were still working to determine a motive. In another case, a jury found Aaron Cooper and Kevin Cooper guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Michael Williams.
For now, the double-murder case moves deeper into Fresno County Superior Court, where prosecutors will have to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt before a jury can decide the outcome.
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