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Foster parents guilty of 2nd degree murder

Posted at 12:18 PM, Apr 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-13 20:32:42-04

Carla Torres and Alberto Garcia were found guilty of second degree murder Wednesday for their involvement in the death of three year old Serenity Gandara in 2010.

Torres and Garcia were Serenity's foster parents and also her aunt and uncle.

Serenity was found dead from blunt force trauma in their southwest Bakersfield home in July 2010. Serenity's four year old brother, Isaiah, was the only other person in the house and was injured when police arrived.

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Torres and Garcia fled for Mexico with their three biological children following the death of Serenity. 

Torre's attorney says that they fled because Torres feared she would be deported.

"She took her children with her to a place where she felt she would be able to live her life with her children," said Bill Slocumb.

"Turns out she was wrong because the United States went down there, picked her up and brought her back."

They were discovered by authorities in Mexico in 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in 2014.

Torres and Garcia were also found guilty of two counts of willful cruelty to a child. Torres was found guilty of an additional charge, causing death to a child under the age of eight.

Both will be sentenced on May 11th.