LOS ANGELES — The Merced man accused of kidnapping and killing a family was charged Monday with four counts of first-degree murder for each life lost, prosecutors announced.
The Merced County district attorney’s office said in a press release that it will not make a determination this year on whether to pursue the death penalty in the case of Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, who is accused of abducting an 8-month-old girl and her parents as well as her uncle, from their trucking business off South Highway 59 last week.
District Attorney Kimberly Lewis declined to comment on the case beyond the charges. Salgado is set to be arraigned Monday afternoon.
Salgado was charged in the deaths of Jasdeep Singh, 36; his wife, Jasleen Kaur, 27; their 8-month-old daughter, Aroohi Dheri; and Singh’s brother, Amandeep Singh, 39.
The investigation into the disappearance of the family began Oct. 3 after police found Amandeep Singh’s Dodge Ram truck on fire in the town of Winton.
When family members couldn’t locate Amandeep or his brother, sister-in-law or their baby, they reported the family as missing.
The search led investigators with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to the family business, Unison Trucking, where video surveillance showed a suspect abducting the family at gunpoint and leading them away in the truck.
Salgado attempted suicide Tuesday as investigators zeroed in on him as a suspect in the case, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. He was held in the hospital for two days and was then booked into jail.
Salgado also faces charges of illegal possession of a firearm and arson for allegedly setting fire to the truck. His brother, Alberto Salgado, was also arrested in the case on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, accessory and destroying evidence.
Jesus Manuel Salgado spent nearly a decade in prison for holding another family at gunpoint and robbing it in its garage in 2005.
