Woman Who Killed Sister and Newborn Baby Over 'Sibling Rivalry' Showed 'No Remorse': Police

Prosecutors in the case against Yarelly Solorio-Rivera, 25, have long argued that the 2022 double-murder was a case of "jealousy and sibling rivalry," but her defense attorney, Curtis Sok, argued in court, per ABC 30, "She's not an evil, cold killer. This was done out of love for her children, for the safety of her children," claiming that Yanelly used to "threaten them."

The jury did not buy this narrative, finding Solorio-Rivera guilty on two counts of murder. Martin Arroyo-Morales, 29, who prosecutors successfully argued helped his girlfriend plan the murders, was sentenced to 22 years for two counts of voluntary manslaughter. He reached a plea deal with the state that dismissed murder charges.

In court for the sentencing on Wednesday was the father of both the victim and the defendant, who said through a translator, "I come here to accompany my daughter today." He said that the blame for his younger daughter's death falls firmly on Arroyo-Morales.

"I believe that you are making the wrong decision, you and the DA, when they want to send my daughter to life for jail, when he is the one guilty of all of this," he insisted in court, via translation.

"I know that you’re trying to do what’s right. But as a father, I already lost one daughter, and I do not want to lose another one just because someone got away with it," he continued, per KSEE24.

Neither defendant said a word during their court appearance, and no one spoke on behalf of the victims. Sok told ABC 30 that Solorio-Rivera does have remorse: "Yes, she has remorse. She's very sorry. She knows she could've been better."

Judge Brian Alvarez, however, showed no hesitation in handing down the life sentence, declaring in court, "She will never be on parole. She will die in prison." She had been facing the death penalty until she changed her plea from not guilty to no contest.

"Mr. Solorio is going to be losing two daughters today. She made a deal with the state, and the court is going to follow through with that. She avoided a potential death penalty," Alvarez added.

Solorio-Rivera and Arroyo-Morales were arrested on November 9, 2022, two months after the tragic deaths of Yanelly and her baby daughter.

"We can now say with complete certainty that we have those responsible for this homicide in custody," then-Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama said in a press conference after the arrests. "We have the murder weapon, a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun, and we have a motive: jealousy and sibling rivalry."

"The last few days, they were detained," said Chief Balderrama, who added "the lies, the deception, and the evil intentions surrounding this case began to unravel" after Arroyo-Morales was identified as being the man in video authorities released of a person of interest spotted on surveillance footage near the time and place of the shootings.

He later admitted to police as part of his confession, per Law&Crime, that he had been in the house and part of the planning behind the killings. He also said that Solorio-Rivera gave him the gun after the shooting.

"They were interviewed by homicide detectives, and at which time they confessed to the crime, and led detectives to the whereabouts of the murder weapon," he also said.

Police initially responded to a report of multiple gunshots inside a residence on Saturday, September 24 around 7:20 in the morning. When they arrived, they entered the bedroom and found both Yanelly and her infant daughter suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

They were both pronounced dead at the scene. Balderrama said authorities believe the young mother was sleeping and holding onto her daughter when she was shot multiple times, with at least one of those shots hitting the baby.

There were no signs of forced entry in the home, and the older sister was at the home at the time of their deaths, along with multiple other family members, according to The Fresno Bee. Police said her boyfriend was let in and that he fled after the shooting.

"We saw no remorse whatsoever, no guilt, no apprehension," Balderrama said at the press conference. "I've never seen something like this."

The next year, in May 2023, ABC 30 released video footage of Solorio-Rivera's taped confession where she admitted to killing her sister that was played at a hearing in front of the sisters' entire family.

In the clip the defendant is asked by a detective, "Can you who me how you were pointing it?" as she was hold a mock gun. "Like this, she replied, pointing the gun. "I was like this, probably like that."

"Did you mean to shoot her in the face?" she was asked, responding, "Did I mean to shoot her?" The detective reiterated, "In the face?" and she replied, "Yeah."

The lead detective on the case, Justin Baroni, also took the stand at that hearing, telling the court, "They had a strained relationship at the time and they used to be good friends," adding that "at one point, the police were called to the house and the police took a firearm from Yarelly that she had purchased and it was because of Yanelly."

Court documents presented at the 2023 hearing revealed that Solorio-Rivera allegedly told police that she was jealous of the attention her younger sister and her newborn daughter were getting and she wanted that attention for herself and her own children, per ABC 30.

"We see a lot of violence in Fresno. Typically it’s risky behavior or gangsters shooting each other, and to a certain degree you expect that violence," Balderrama said. "But you don’t expect it from your own sister, and you certainly don’t expect it against a 3-week-old child."