Man arraigned in murder, stalking case
The victim’s family and friends are raising money for funeral expenses
MILPITAS >> Anthony Jon Juco, the man charged with murder and stalking in the Jan. 2 slaying of his recent former girlfriend, had a lengthy history of domestic violence that included multiple restraining orders from two women who had children with him, court records show, signaling behavior that would later put him in prison and on the state’s sex offender registry.
Juco, a 42-year-old San Jose resident, was arraigned Monday after the hearing was delayed Friday because he was still at a local hospital. He is now being held without bail eligibility in the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
He has been accused of following 35-year-old Fremont resident Christina Raymond — who he had dated as recently as October — in his car, then stabbing her in a Milpitas city parking lot. Raymond had reportedly intended to seek refuge from Juco’s pursuit inside the police headquarters, but may have entered the wrong parking lot by mistake.
County court records show that Juco’s history with the criminal-legal system includes misdemeanor and felony convictions between 1999 and 2001 for inflicting corporal injury, child endangerment, violating a domestic violence restraining order and assault with a deadly weapon.
In 2005, he was charged with making violent threats in three separate instances during a conflict with the mother of one of his children, which again made him the subject of a domestic violence restraining order. He later pleaded no contest to a charge of assault with the intent to commit a sex offense, receiving
a two-year prison sentence and being required to register as a sex offender. In 2011, he was summoned to court again for failing to fulfill his registration requirements.
Records show he stayed out of the county courts for a decade until this past New Year's Eve, when police say Juco sent a threatening message containing “187” — the state penal code for murder — to Raymond after viewing her TikTok post about her new relationship with a man named Lennart Persson.
Two days later, Raymond was driving her 2007 Toyota Camry in Milpitas when she spotted Juco following her in his car. Police state in an investigative report that Raymond called Persson, who told her to drive to the Milpitas Police Department and sent her the address, but that Raymond drove to the south end of the building instead of the north.
After she parked, police reported, Raymond called Juco's stepmother, who reportedly heard Raymond screaming “Stop!” to an unidentified person, followed by the call going silent and then the sound of Juco saying, “I'm sorry.”
Juco's father, stepmother, and mother later met up with Juco at a McDonald's parking lot and reportedly saw a mortally wounded Raymond in the backseat of her car — which Juco had commandeered — and did not call police or seek help. After about 20 minutes, Juco's mother, Simona Marie Atondo, reportedly retrieved the car keys from Juco's father, who had previously seized them, and the mother and son left the site just as police were arriving after being alerted by Persson.
Juco was arrested following a police chase that ended with him crashing the car in Fremont, and after he reportedly inflicted stab wounds onto himself, leading to his hospital stay. Later that day, Atondo was arrested and has since been charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.
The nature of the dating relationship between Juco and Raymond remains a private matter. There is no known indication or formal report about any prior threats he made to her.
Attempts by this news organization to contact Juco's father, stepmother, and Atondo have not been successful. Outside of a public vigil last week, neither Raymond's boyfriend nor her family have offered further public comment, citing a desire to not affect the criminal prosecution of Juco.
On the evening of Jan. 6, Persson led a vigil of about 30 people at the intersection of Warren Avenue and Kato Road in Fremont, the exact spot where Juco crashed. Friends and family members laid down flowers and candles in front of a photograph of Raymond. The mourners clutched a lit white candle adorned with Raymond's photograph and #JusticeForChristina written on the bottom.
“They say you meet that one girl that changes your life,” Persson said at the vigil. “It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you were once in a lifetime.”
He added, “Your sense of humor, you always made me laugh. Your golden heart. A lot of you could attest to this, too. If she loved you and you had a problem, she would stick her neck out for you and make sure you knew that you weren't alone. Her loyalty, you can see it all around here. She loved all of you guys.”
“I loved my sister a lot,” said Anthony Baez-Souza, Raymond's brother. “She was always there, no matter what.”
Raymond's sister, Elyssa Souza, has created a GoFundMe page to help the family cover her funeral expenses and contribute to domestic-violence support organizations.
“We are all devastated and would like to send Christina home the right way. She meant the world to all of us,” Souza wrote on the page. “She was a wonderful sister, friend and daughter who touched the lives of those around her.”