BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK/KBFX) — The father of slain 8-year-old Genesis Mata will undergo a competency exam in April, as the criminal case related to her death remains on hold, according to the Kern County court records. Ray Mata, Jr. is set to return to court early next month.
He and her stepmother, Graciela Bustamonte, are accused of torturing and killing Genesis on August 2, 2025. They are charged with murder, child cruelty likely to produce great injury or death, torture, aggravated mayhem and inflicting injury to a child.
::WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS FROM COURT DOCUMENTS IN NEXT PARAGRAPH::VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED::
Genesis’s body was found blistered and burned in a La Quinta Inn motel bathtub in August 2025. According to a Bakersfield police probable cause report, Ray and stepmother Graciela Bustamonte were “working in tandem” over two days and poured scalding hot water on the child, causing severe burns that “caused ripping of the skin.” It also appeared to an officer that she had been whipped multiple times, causing her flesh under the skin to be exposed. Court documents also said Mata and Bustamonte had crushed the child’s hand, causing her fingernails to separate from her hands…