Police believe the evidence found during a thorough search of an orchard in southwest Fresno on Sunday will be essential to solving the murder of a young mother and her unborn child in September. A video of a potential person of interest in the double homicide was also made public by the police.
On September 24, Yanelly Solorio Rivera, 18, and her 3-week-old daughter Celine were shot and killed inside a house close to Fruit and Jensen avenues. The mother is thought to have been holding the infant when several rounds were fired, fatally injuring both victims.
Last week, Fresno police issued a request for information from the public in the case, mentioning that a reward fund has been set up for tips that would help the investigation. According to Lt. Paul Cervantes of the Fresno Police Department, the news conference on November 3 generated a fresh set of leads that led to the search of an almond orchard just to the north of the house where the two were killed.
Immediately following the killing, “we obtained information that the suspect or suspects responsible for this homicide ran through this area,” Cervantes told The Fresno Bee. In a grid search of the orchard, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms joined Fresno police and other agencies. They brought with them technology that helped them find evidence, Cervantes said.
Except to indicate that the technology “was not necessarily available to the Fresno Police Department” in the past, he made no mention of the nature of the technology or the type of evidence that had been discovered. The search was conducted by about 30 agents, cops, police K-9s, and drones, he added. It was an enormous production.
In addition to the physical evidence we found in the field, Cervantes said, “We’ve actually found some video footage as well. He stated that the film would likely be improved and made available to the public soon in an effort to see if it would generate any further tips from the general public.
Terrible crime for our community. I’m grateful for the excellent work by @FresnoPolice w/ the assistance of @FresnoDA, as well as HSI, ATF, and FBI. At the very least we are bringing justice to the victims, may they rest in peace!https://t.co/RMyrJwn0BB
— Chief Paco Balderrama (@BalderramaPaco) November 11, 2022
Anthony Galaviz, a reporter for the Fresno Bee, contributed to this story. On Sunday, November 6, 2022, a Fresno Police patrol car and police tape blocked access to an almond orchard near Fruit Avenue south of Church Avenue in southwest Fresno. When investigating the murder of a young mother and her baby daughter in September, investigators scoured the orchard and discovered fresh physical evidence.
On Sunday, November 6, 2022, a Fresno Police patrol car and police tape blocked access to an almond orchard near Fruit Avenue south of Church Avenue in southwest Fresno. When investigating the murder of a young mother and her baby daughter in September, investigators scoured the orchard and discovered fresh physical evidence.