Luis Orlando Esparza was 12 when he was killed on January 6, 1990, at his family’s mobile home on the Silva Ranch south of King City, California. Rios, the foreman of a nearby ranch and the husband of Luis’s mother, arrived home intoxicated, discovered Concepcion Esparza drinking with her cousin Jose Luis Parra Hernandez, and began firing a gun. The first two shots penetrated the thin walls and struck Luis in his bedroom, killing him instantly.

Rios then shot Concepcion Esparza in the head and side, and also shot Hernandez twice as Hernandez fled; both adults died. Rios fled to San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, lived under an assumed identity, and was later reported, apprehended, extradited, and tried. At trial he said Luis’s shooting was accidental during a struggle with Hernandez but admitted he deliberately shot Concepcion and Hernandez. A jury convicted Rios of all three murders and he was sentenced to life without parole.