On Monday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced murder and assault charges against a teenager, who may be tried as an adult, who has been implicated in the April 9 death of his two-year-old cousin.

A tragic case in San Jose is shining a new and damning spotlight on Santa Clara County’s Department of Family and Children’s Services, and new charges have now been filed against a teen suspect.

On Friday we learned about the April 9 death of two-year-old Jaxon Rey Juarez, and we learned that the still unnamed suspect, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime, was being charged with multiple counts of sexual assault on the toddler.

Now more details are emerging in the case, and Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen filed more charges against the teen, including murder and felony assault "with a hair tie." Rosen also spoke to the media Monday morning, as Bay Area News Group reports, expressing his frustration with the county's child welfare department.

"This is the third child in the last couple years under the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children’s Services who has been murdered," Rosen said, per the news group. "Enough. Enough. Change needs to come, and it needs to come fast, and it needs to happen now."

At issue in the case is the fact that the teenage suspect's mother, a 40-year-old cousin of Jaxon Juarez, had been selected to be the foster parent for the toddler despite having a criminal record that included a conviction for felony child endangerment from a decade ago. The woman is reportedly part of Juarez's father's family, and he had previously been in the care of his maternal grandfather in Roseville — until the grandfather told social workers that he could no longer care for the toddler, who had special needs.

As Bay Area News Group previously reported, the Department of Family and Children’s Services declined last year to place baby Jaxon with relatives in Arizona due to the fact that his father, who lives in San Jose and suffers from serious health problems, would not be able to visit him there.

The boy was born eight weeks premature with fetal alcohol syndrome, and his mother later died of liver and kidney failure. Juarez was placed with an unrelated family before being transferred to his grandfather in Roseville, and in late February, he was brought to live with the paternal cousin in San Jose, who also has a 17-year-old son and a daughter who is around 13.

She has not been named in media reports because no charges have been filed against her.

The felony conviction for child endangerment, which involved driving drunk with her baby daughter in the car in 2014, should been disqualifying for her candidacy as a foster parent, says County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who worked in child welfare, speaking to Bay Area News Group.

Juarez was found unresponsive in his crib on Easter Sunday, April 5, with a hair tie around his neck, as KTVU reports. The boy's grandmother had previously reported a concerning red mark on his neck to child protective services about a week earlier.

Juarez was in a coma and taken off life support on April 9. The teenage son of the foster parent was subsequently charged with six counts of sexual assault, and is now charged with murder and felony assault. Rosen says he will likely be tried as an adult given the seriousness of the charges, and the fact that he turned 18 in the weeks since the boy's death occurred.

The official cause of death for Jaxon Juarez has not been released, but he reportedly had "several suspicious traumatic injuries," according to medical staff.

As KTVU notes, according to police, the woman was "was less than cooperative and not forthcoming during initial interviews."

"This is a terrible and horrific case," Rosen said in a statement. ""And I think that we should all be asking questions of county officials at the highest level. Why are horrible and tragic crimes happening to children in the care and custody of the Department of Family and Children's Services over and over?"

Rosen is referring to the 2023 fentanyl overdose death of 3-month-old Phoenix Castro, who had been placed in the care of her father against the recommendation of social workers; and the 2024 stabbing death of 7-year-old Jordan Walker, after he had been placed with a grandmother against recommendations, and was allegedly killed by an uncle.

The county says it has launched an investigation into the death, and county spokesperson Peter Gallotta put out a statement on Sunday saying, "We are working urgently to understand exactly what happened, and we remain committed to publicly sharing the results of our investigation, and the independent investigation being conducted by the State, when they are available and to the extent permitted by law."

Top image: Photo of Jaxon Juarez taken by his maternal grandfather in Roseville several months ago