Melissa Gomez | (TNS) Los Angeles Times
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Ezekiel Xavier Rivera idolized his father.
The 2-year-old loved to follow Raul Rivera around the house and ride in the car with him, said Soluna Lora, Ezekiel’s mother.
On June 3, 2023, Lora left the little boy with his father in Bakersfield while she took his older brother for a haircut. She and Rivera, who have three children together, are separated. When she returned to drop Ermias off too, Lora said, she spotted a bulge in Rivera’s sock.