Man handed 15 years to life for kidnapping and murder of 2 Northern California teens

Jonathan Froste was sentenced to 15 years to life for the kidnapping and murders of two Yolo County teenagers.

Froste was sentenced Wednesday afternoon by Yolo County Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg following several emotional statements from the family members of victims Enrique Rios and Elijah Moore.

Froste previously elected to take a plea deal, cooperating with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office by attempting to locate the bodies of Moore and Rios and testifying against his brother David Froste, Chandale Shannon and Jesus Campos. Froste pled no contest to second-degree murder for his role in Moore’s death.

Rios and Moore went missing within weeks of each other in October 2016. According to previous court testimony, Moore robbed Shannon, Campos and David of three ounces of marijuana. Enraged over the robbery, David kidnapped Rios, who had no involvement in the robbery, in an attempt to find Moore. David shot him when Rios refused to give up his friend’s location.

Weeks later, David, Jonathan and Campos spotted Moore leaving a barber shop and forced him into the trunk of their car. After picking up Shannon, the four drove out to Knights Landing, where they proceeded to take turns bludgeoning Moore with a tree branch before David dropped a large log on Moore’s head, crushing his skull. David then shot him in the head.

Both Rios and Moore are believed to have been buried in Knights Landing, but their bodies have never been found despite the assistance from Jonathan and the multiple attempts to locate them.

David is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Campos and Shannon were also handed life sentences without the possibility of parole in July of this year after a Yolo County jury found Shannon guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and Campos guilty of second-degree murder of Rios and first-degree murder of Moore.

Several impact statements were read from various family members, including Moore’s aunt and cousin and Rios’ mother and grandmothers. Lola Rios Gutierrez, Rios’ mother, emotionally recounted the pain and nightmares she and her family have suffered since the day her son disappeared and how she previously pleaded with Jonathan to help her in the earlier days of her son’s disappearance.

“You lied to me,” Gutierrez said. “You said you had no idea what happened. You said you were sorry about what I was going through and you wished you could tell me what I needed. You knew what happened to him and never came forward to anyone.”

“I was blessed with two beautiful children and now I only have half of my heart,” Gutierrez concluded.

Judge Rosenberg said the case “represents the most evil and depraved acts” he had ever witnessed in his 20 years on the bench.

“I will say to Mr. Jonathan Froste, you have achieved perhaps a measure of redemption by finally speaking the truth at trial and you can’t escape the consequences of your actions so I will sentence you accordingly,” Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg then denied the grant of probation before handing Jonathan his 15-years-to-life sentence at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He also recommended that Froste be provided the opportunity to participate in counseling or education programs with a substance abuse component.

Jonathan elected to make no comments before he was remanded to custody to the sheriff for transportation to prison.