BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A Bakersfield grandmother who gained custody of four children after their mother was killed in a domestic violence incident has received a new home through the Open Door Network.
Sandra Apodaca is the mother of 32-year-old Taylor Estrada, who investigators say was stabbed and killed by her estranged husband, 44-year-old Rafael Estrada, in May.
"She will be with us through our memories and my grandkids cause every time I see them, I see her," Apodaca said.
According to the family, Taylor and her four children moved in with Apodaca in Bakersfield to escape what they called an abusive relationship with Rafael.
"She was very outgoing, she did things very spontaneously, she's been through a lot, so her thing was always about family," Apodaca said.
While celebrating one of her daughter's graduation, investigators say Taylor was stabbed in the neck by Rafael in front of some of her children.
Since then, Apodaca has had custody of the four children and says her biggest fear was not being able to afford rent. The Open Door Network helped alleviate that fear.
"I heard about this family and the horrific incident back in May of this year—of course it was a domestic violence incident, so the Open Door Network was intimately involved," said Lauren Skidmore, CEO of the Open Door Network.
Together with their donors, including the Patel Foundation, the Open Door Network was able to gift the family with the keys to their very own home.
"We're really proud of Sandra because she wants to own her own home, she wants to have a stake in the ground, she wants to be able to give something back to her family that's seen so much loss through the last few months," Skidmore said.
"We're going to be all together in one place, we're going to be under one roof and we're going to live our life even though we won't have my daughter," Apodaca said.
Before the family moves in, the Open Door Network says they are asking the community for help installing new windows, painting, landscaping as well as purchasing furniture for the home.
"It's one less thing for them to have to worry about and it gives the family an opportunity to heal and not be in survival mode," Skidmore said.
If you'd like to help prepare the Estrada home, you can contact the Open Door Network at (661) 322-9199 or scan the QR code below.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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