Woman given 2 life sentences for killing Fresno sister and baby out of jealousy
A 25-year-old Fresno woman who police said used a gun to kill her sister and 3-week-old niece out of jealousy was sentenced to two life terms this week, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday.
Yarelly Solorio Rivera snuck into the room of her younger sister, Yanelly, in the early hours of Sept. 24, 2022, and opened fire as the 18-year-old was sleeping with her new infant, Celine, cradled in her arms, according to investigators.
Solorio Rivera agreed to a settlement that spared her from the death penalty. Judge Brian Alvarez sentenced her to two life sentences without the possibility of parole in either case for the gruesome slayings.
Also sentenced in the murders was her boyfriend, Martin Arroyo Morales, 29, of Madera. Police said he was present at the time of the killings and helped his girlfriend dispose of the handgun.
The attorney for both defendants could not immediately be reached on Thursday.
Arroyo Morales was sentenced to 22 years in prison, 11 for each count of voluntary manslaughter, according to the DA’s office. He would also be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years upon release, which was part of his plea deal for a separate unlawful intercourse case, according to prosecutors.
The two were arrested more than a month after the killings at the sisters’ home on the 2500 block of South Fruit Avenue north of Jensen Avenue.
In an interview with Fresno detectives, Solorio Rivera admitted to shooting her sister several times at close range with a 9mm pistol and then turning the gun on her niece. The baby was shot once in the stomach.
Rivera told detectives jealousy and anger over the attention her sister and baby daughter were getting from her parents drove her to shoot them, according to court records.
Then-Police Chief Paco Balderrama described the interrogation by detectives while announcing the arrests.
“We saw no remorse whatsoever, no guilt, no apprehension,” he said. “I’ve never seen something like this.”
