Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Man Wanted for Murder Flees to Mexico with Kids: Sheriff

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Madeline Cuevas, 22, was found shot to death in her home south of Fresno, California last month. Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson said Madeline's ex-fiancé, Jonathan Maldonado Cruz, shot and killed her and then kidnapped their toddler daughters and took off for Mexico. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the disturbing case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If your child, under 21, has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or fatty liver disease, visit https://forthepeople.com/food to start a claim now!Host:Angenette Levy https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Randy Kessler https://x.com/GAdivorceCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. It's such a tragedy that should never occur. Two babies lost their mother, and we're learning through this investigation that she was just a beautiful person inside and out. That mother was Madeline Cuevas. The father of her two children is now accused of murdering her and taking off for Mexico. I lay out the case detectives say they have built against Jonathan Maldonado Cruz. Thanks for joining me for Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Madeline Cuevas was a young mother to two adorable daughters. Her family loved her dearly, and you can tell

from videos that she posted on social media that she loved her dearly, and you can tell from videos that she posted on social media that she loved her daughters more than anything. But Madeline's life was sadly taken from her, ripped away in the middle of the night in her home south of Fresno, California. The sheriff says the man who murdered Madeline was someone she once loved, the father of her children, Jonathan Maldonado Cruz. Maldonado Cruz faces a first-degree murder charge with special circumstances of lying in wait and an additional gun enhancement, and that makes him eligible for the death penalty in the state of California if prosecutors decide to pursue it. Maldonado Cruz is also charged with kidnapping for ransom,

robbery, child stealing, grand theft, and a misdemeanor fleeing charge. A video on TikTok shows that Maldonado Cruz and Madeline Cuevas were once very happy they were engaged. According to family members, the couple had been dating since high school, but recently the relationship ended. Prosecutors say they have evidence that Madeline was caught off guard, completely unaware of her ex-boyfriend's plans. Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson went over the case in a press conference, starting with how his agency learned that something was wrong with Madeline. Madeline's father alerted us to that they had not been in contact with Madeline. And so about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28th, we went to the residence that they had already made entry into and discovered that she was deceased inside the

residence. The deputies arrived on scene and discovered her and she had a gunshot wound to her body. And some of the things I'm not going to get into specifics today, so I'll just leave it at gunshot wound. The detectives were called out and took over the investigation. In a short amount of time, detectives determined the homicide most likely took place on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, a little after midnight, about 1 a.m. After the shooting, Sheriff Robinson said Maldonado Cruz took the two daughters that he shared with Madeline Cuevas and ran for the border to Mexico.

The suspect had about a 15-hour head start on this. Detectives learned real quickly that two children were possibly with the suspect and some of the initial information indicated that he may have fled to Mexico. Our agency immediately enlisted the help of the FBI. They were able to begin coordinating with local and federal authorities in both the United States and Mexico with the sole purpose at this point of getting the children returned back safely. You know, in cases like this, you focus a lot on the suspect, but when there's children involved, the utmost important was getting those children back safely.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, has a cell phone. That would play a very important role in tracking Maldonado Cruz, but his phone wasn't the only important part of this investigation. The FBI began tracking both cell phones. And when I say both cell phones, I'll clarify the suspect's cell phone and the victim's cell phone was also missing. And through that tracking, they determined that the suspect had gone south to Mexico and across the Mexican American border. As detectives, the FBI and Mexican authorities began to close in on suspects' whereabouts. Detectives were able to successfully negotiate the surrender of the suspect this morning and the safe return of the children to authorities at the border crossing

of San Ysidro. The suspect's mother was a critical part of these negotiations, and we thank her for this. I know that was probably not an easy thing for her to do. You heard that right. With the assistance of the suspect's mother, she was probably very worried about her adorable little granddaughters and her son. Maldonado Cruz surrendered with the girls at the border crossing just south of San Diego. I just would like to extend my appreciation to the Mexican authorities again. And especially we understand that one of the Mexican authorities again, and especially we understand that one of the Mexican authorities unit member was injured in this effort. I don't know his condition, but we hope he's doing okay in recovery. This is a law and crime legal alert. Did you know that children are being diagnosed with serious conditions like type 2 diabetes and

non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and research is potentially linking ultra processed foods to these outcomes. Morgan and Morgan is stepping in to fight to hold food companies accountable with decades of experience, fighting large corporations. They are ready to stand up for families who deserve justice. If your child under 21 has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or fatty liver disease, visit www.forthepeople.com slash food to learn more. Now, it's been reported that those two little girls, ages 3 and 2, are safe with family now. Police thank the public for spreading the word to help reunite the girls with their family. Now, the Amber Alert for the girls was originally issued out of Kings County, but it happened the next day.

It expanded to multiple counties near the Mexico border. Some have questioned why the sheriff's office didn't issue an Amber Alert immediately for Madeline's daughters, but that wasn't a mistake. Sheriff Robinson said delaying it was strategic. It was done by design. We thought that perhaps there was a mistake early on, but we learned through this process that there's two levels of an AMBER alert. One is that fact sheet that they send back to local agencies immediately

that you can share locally. And one is you have to specifically tell them, hey, hit the statewide emergency alert button. And there was some discussion during that time frame whether or not that should go out. And so I'm not going to call it a state because in this case we have two little girls back that are safe and happy and and seem to be doing well but it's a tactical move and you know in hindsight could we put it out we could have what did it work it might have money morning

quarterback in me sometimes thinks that hey maybe we could have but i'm super pleased that it worked out the way it did as i stand here today thank you as if that wasn't enough just two days after madeleine's murder someone took advantage of the home being empty and they broke in through a back window burglarizing the home kings county deputies are still searching for that suspect. Randy Kessler is a family law attorney based in Atlanta. Randy, I feel like this is just one in a number of cases I've covered lately involving an ex or a spouse accused of murdering their significant other. I mean, it just seems like these are popping up in the news

a lot lately. You are in the family law business. I mean, why is this so, it feels like it's so common. Right. And, you know, there was one recent case where there was a brawl in a murder case where the nephew or whatever it was, but it's family law that really gets the emotions, right? In a criminal case, the person who's on trial knows they did something wrong and knows they're going to be punished in some way. Family law, you know, you're living your life. You've got a relationship with your family and your children. And one day that relationship ends and a judge or your ex says, these are the new rules. This is how often you get to see your children and you don't get to have me

as your mate anymore. That's a lot to digest digest and everyone has a hard time with it very few people say okay i'll just move right along but you know some people take it to the extreme and it just makes them snap and we're always concerned when we tell somebody okay when you file that's the danger time you know even if you think they should know it's coming because you haven't had sex in five years when you do something official and you end a even if you think they should know it's coming, because you haven't had sex in five years, when you do something official, and you end a relationship, or you limit someone's time with their children, you know that it's a very dangerous time. And these cases show exactly why.

Yeah, and, you know, these are this is a young couple. I mean, apparently, they had been dating since high school. I mean, they had been together a really long time. They had these two adorable little children and then the relationship ends and everybody, you know, the family members, they seem to be just shocked by this. I mean, just absolutely shocked. I mean, yes, relationships end and we all know how that can go. But I mean, does this happen where people just like that, where everybody around them, if you walk down the street and a stranger mugs you, rapes you, does something, it's shocking. But we all know there are bad people out there. But this is somebody that you or your family member loved and cared for and was intimate with.

That's what's shocking about it. It's going from it's not some stranger and random act of violence. This is someone you bonded with, had children with, that has not only stopped liking you or loving you or caring for you, but done the exact 180 degree opposite of love. You know, that's, that's to me what's shocking about it. And that's when people snap and people need to be more aware and more careful. You just wouldn't think that your ex, everyone thinks I'm over it. He'll get over it. You know, and it could be some version of, well, if I can't have her, nobody else can have her. And we've all heard that. And, you know, there's something in it. I mean, there's a reason that

kind of storyline, that kind of movie line, that kind of book line is relevant and appealing to people because a lot of us feel that way. When breaks up with you i'm so mad she's mine i i you know work so hard i invest so much time energy money into this relationship it's not fair that it's not going to work out i'll never find anybody like her you know that it's just um shocking the more you think about it the more you dig into it you can start to understand the hurt and the anger. But to get it to this level, it's always going to shock me. Randy, one of the things that's really stunning to me is the allegation, you know, Jonathan Maldonado Cruz, you know, he enjoys the presumption of innocence as all criminal

defendants do. But the allegation here is that he killed Madeline, the mother of his children, the one-time love of his life, and then took those little girls and then took off for Mexico. And with the help of his own mother, the law enforcement gets him to surrender with those little girls. I'm sure mom was just scared to death and wanted him to turn himself in and wanted those little girls to be safe. So that's a pretty unique thing that we have here, his own mother talking him into surrendering. Yeah. I mean, there are three interesting points of that, those set of facts. One is, of course, a murderer, an alleged murderer fleeing across the border from the United States into Mexico, sort of contrary to all the PR and everything that's out there in today's environment. So that's just sort of interesting. But two other

points. One is, you know, very good on law enforcement. Bravo to not go out there and tell the whole world and scare him and try to figure out how to get mom to help and how to get him to turn himself in. Whatever they said, whatever they did, it worked. And then finally, what's interesting to me is, does he get any credit, any credit, any brownie points for turning himself in. Whatever they said, whatever they did, it worked. And then finally, what's interesting to me is, does he get any credit, any brownie points for turning himself in? Of course, he's not a good guy. And if he's the murderer, then for sure he should be locked away forever if not given the death penalty. But on the other hand, we've seen people that do this and they want to bury all evidence. Then they kill the children and then the children's lives are gone too. He didn't do that. It shows that he must have had some sense of remorse or acknowledgement that what he did was

wrong. And does that count for something? I don't think it means that he's a good guy, but does it make him a little bit better than some of the other people we've seen that have gone the extra mile and not only murdered the mom of the children, but murdered the children and gone off and murdered other family members or mom's new lover. So to some degree, an ounce of credibility or an ounce of forgiveness or an ounce of something on the sentencing, he's got something to play with. His lawyers have something they can argue that he maybe had lost it and was insane and came back to sanity, came back to a sense of reason. Of course, it does look well orchestrated and planned out. So, you know, it looks a little premeditated to me. I don't think insanity is going to work, but at least his lawyer has something to work with.

Yeah. And I do want to touch on that because you're saying it looks premeditated. I mean, the prosecution, you know, the DA obviously thinks that it was premeditated. I mean, there's special circumstances, enhancements added to this, like he was lying in wait. So they could potentially seek the death penalty against him because of these special enhancements that they've added. So and they say Madeline had no clue. I mean, she had no clue that this was coming from their investigation, which is so incredibly awful, you know, that he was basically staking her out. You know, you hear lying in wait, Randy, and it's just absolutely terrifying. It is. It's an all interesting discussion. And a psychologist would have a field day with

enhancements. Do you get punished more for these enhancements, lying in wait, premeditation? I mean, the bottom line is murder is murder is murder. And whether it was spur of the moment, whether it was, you know, ramming somebody with a car in New Orleans, whether it was lying in wait, they're all terrible. How do you differentiate degrees of terribility or awfulness? But that's what the law does. And the prosecutor is going to look at this case and say, not only was this murder and terrible, it has enhanced aspects and we're going to seek the death penalty because this qualifies as the worst of the worst of the worst. But yes, it is awful.

But it's hard to say that somebody who was murdered without the premeditation isn't just as awful to that family. So it's very hard to get into the weeds on how awful is truly awful. But this is up there. And those two little kids, those two little girls are sadly now without parents, both their parents. It's awful. One of the things I do want to touch on, too, is the fact that law enforcement held off on issuing the Amber Alert because that could have, who knows what that could have triggered. And I thought it was a

really good thing that they worked it through the back channels with his mother for a time and tried to get him to turn himself in that way. So the Amber Alert, you know, we all know what happens when they issue an Amber Alert. It goes up all over the signs on the highway. It's all over the TV. It's all over the TV. It's plastered everywhere. Everybody gets alerts on their cell phones. I mean, that maybe could have spooked him. And who knows possibly what could have happened had that alert been issued sooner.

Yeah, I mean, I think the Amber Alert is the cure of last resort when you have nothing else. So it's easy to second guess. And if they had not caught him, everybody would be saying, why didn't they issue the Amber Alert earlier? And who would wanna be making those decisions and be second guessed by the public and the family?

But it sounds like they did the right thing and they have their protocol. If there are other options that are better than an Amber Alert, you try those first. And they did try them and thank goodness it worked. And maybe in other situations when there's no Amber Alert issue right away, that's probably what's going on behind the scenes

and and you know you've got to trust law enforcement they do this unfortunately uh more than this is the first time for the family and everyone who's second guessing law enforcement but they got it right you know they didn't stop the murder but they stopped further murders and further abduction these children could have been kept away. They could have been murdered. They could have been just secreted away to some country and lived in a third world country with no money and no real hope for any kind of life. They have a chance now.

They don't have their mother, but they'll have a life. What's your best advice for people who are separating from somebody and would never, ever, ever in a million years think that something like this could happen? It's what I do every day. Prepare for the worst. Think about the worst. It's why people don't like divorce lawyers, right? We say, this could happen.

No, he would never do that. Okay, well, if he never does that, then you don't need me. I'm not really going to serve. But if something goes wrong, this is what you need to be prepared for they're not going to take all the money out of the bank account they're not going to kidnap your kids they're not going to destroy the house they're not going to be violent you know all those things that you think that's somebody else's problem you don't have to think it's going to happen to you but think if it happens to me could i prevent it or what can i do to limit the exposure could i

have an alarm system could i have a camera you know at my house security camera think about if you're starting to be in one of these situations a relationship going wrong it's not horrible to think like that you're not going to ruin your life thinking all the time that something bad is going to happen but just be aware people snap the best do bad things. And we hear it all the time, right, Anjanette? It's always not in my neighborhood, not my family, not our community. Nobody would do this. Not my spouse, not my boyfriend. Yes, your spouse, your boyfriend is human. And you never know. Yeah, you just never know. It's just so sad. And my heart goes out to Madeline Cuevas' family and those little girls. Randy Kessler, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Thanks for having me. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.