People v. Kessinger CA1/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

A. Background Ramon was born on February 24, 2016, to Ayled Chavez and Carlos Reyes. Chavez and Reyes were in a relationship, but they broke up the following year. At the time of the murder in April 2018, Ramon and Chavez, who was in her late teens, lived with Chavez’s mother, stepfather, sister, sister’s boyfriend, and two-year-old niece in Bakersfield. Reyes and Chavez did not have a formal custody agreement, but Reyes usually saw his son “every weekend.” In February 2018, Chavez met then 21-year-old Kessinger through SnapChat, and they began dating. Kessinger lived with his brother and brother’s child in a house about 20 minutes away from Chavez’s home. Chavez testified that by the following month, her relationship with Kessinger got “pretty weird.” After the two cheated on each other, Kessinger convinced Chavez to start having sex with other men for money. Chavez was in love with Kessinger and believed that if she did so he would stay with her. Kessinger arranged dates for Chavez through a website, Backpage, and told her how long to stay and how much to charge. Chavez testified that she gave most of the proceeds of this work to…