Noah Cuatro: Parents sentenced for murder, torture in death of Palmdale boy

Parents of Noah Cuatro sentenced for murder, torture of child

The parents of Noah Cuatro were sentenced Tuesday to potential life prison terms for murder and torture charges in his July 2019 death.

LANCASTER, Calif. - The parents of Noah Cuatro, who initially claimed their son drowned, were sentenced Tuesday to potential life prison terms for murder and torture charges in his July 2019 death.

Jose Maria Cuatro Jr., 32, was sentenced to 32 years to life in prison, while Ursula Elaine Juarez, 30, received 22 years to life for Noah Cuatro's death. Both had pleaded no contest last month to those charges, four years after they were indicted in the death of their son, who was just 4-years-old when he was killed.

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Cuatro entered his plea of first-degree murder and torture charges for a sentence of 32 years to life in state prison. Juarez pleaded to second-degree murder and torture charges for a sentence of 22 years to life behind bars, attorneys said.

Noah's parents reported a drowning in their family pool in the 1200 block of East Avenue St. in Palmdale on July 5, 2019.

The boy was taken first to Palmdale Regional Medical Center and then to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where he was pronounced dead the next day.

"Jose, you are by far the worst kind of human being I've ever met. You are an evil monster. I hope you and Ursula never get out of prison," Noah's aunt Maggie Hernandez said in court.

The judge called the little boy's death a "devastating loss" and said he wanted the victim's family to know that he saw "the love from Noah's family." He said he was confident that the boy would never be forgotten.

In a statement read in court by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, the boy's great-grandmother, Evangelina Hernandez, said Juarez had told her at one point that she didn't like the boy.

"Why, my God, why is there such evil in you, Ursula? What kind of monster are you, Jose? " the victim's great-grandmother asked the defendants. "You're both very sick! You are the worst kind of sickos."

State Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, told the judge, "It deserves to be noted that the tragedy of Noah Cuatro has been and will continue to be felt far beyond these courtroom walls. Noah was not only betrayed by his parents, who are sitting here today, but the network established to protect children from mistreatment also failed."

He noted that the little boy had once made the request to "never forget me," saying that he pledged to "do all I can to honor it by reminding our world, `Let's all remember Noah."'

L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement Tuesday saying, "Today's sentencing is another step towards achieving justice for Noah Cuatro."

Also in the Lancaster courtroom in support of the victim's family were members of the families of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos and 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez, whose mothers and their boyfriends were convicted of murder in previous trials.

"It's a sad day," Avalos' aunt, Maria Barron, told reporters outside court. "I mean it keeps happening over and over again ... DCFS needs to be held accountable ... Kids are still dying under their care."

One of Fernandez's cousins, Emily Carranza, said, "Eleven years ago, we stood in the same place as Noah's family ... We've come together to support one another."

Another of Fernandez's cousins, Olivia Rubio, said that she never met Noah, but that he "holds a place in my heart just like Anthony and Gabriel."

"I hope we don't have to stand here with another family and grieve again because this hurts," she told reporters.

According to documents, Noah was often abused by his parents. Following his death, his siblings, a sister and two brothers, opened up about the abuse in their home, mostly at the hands of their father.

One of the siblings also said that he and Noah were always hungry and that he saw his parents slapping his other brother in the face when he was an infant. He also said he observed his parents fighting often and was "scared of his dad because he would beat him up" by punching him and hitting him with his belt, the plaintiff's lawyers state in their court papers.

The three siblings were eventually taken into protective custody.

The boy's great-grandmother, Evangelina Hernandez, subsequently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Los Angeles County on behalf of herself and the siblings, alleging that his death occurred after multiple reports of abuse had already been made to the Department of Children and Family Services.

"Instead of protecting Noah and his siblings, DCFS continued to place the children with their abusive parents, where the children continued to be abused over the course of several years," the suit alleges.

After Noah's death, DCFS social workers made threats against Hernandez "in an attempt to silence her," the lawsuit alleges.

The social workers told Hernandez that if she made any public statements about Noah's case and/or potential lawsuits, she would lose her request for guardianship of her other three great-grandchildren and would never see them again, the suit states.

Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services is also named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Hathaway-Sycamores knew of or suspected the abuse and misconduct occurring in Noah's home after the boy was sent to the agency by the county Department of Children and Family Services for mental health services, but failed to report the abuse, according to the suit.

DCFS previously issued a statement regarding Noah's death.

"At any given time, the Department of Children and Family Services serves more than 34,000 families and vulnerable children in Los Angeles County with an unwavering commitment to pursue child safety every day in our communities," the statement read. "Our 9,000 employees are committed to this mission, and we look to do everything possible to safeguard the children entrusted to our care."

City News Service contributed to this report.