‘A daily hurt’: Families of Esparto fireworks victims confront defendants in court
After a fireworks explosion in Esparto killed seven men last summer, their families stood in a Woodland courtroom Thursday and, for the first time, told a judge what they have carried since that day.
In emotional statements during a bail hearing, relatives described lives cut short and families left to navigate daily loss, urging Yolo Superior Court Judge Daniel McGuire to keep the defendants in custody as the case moves toward trial.
The explosion killed seven people: Jesús Ramos, 18; Jhony Ramos, 22; Joel “Junior” Melendez, 28; Carlos Rodriguez-Mora, 43; Angel Mathew Voller, 18; Christopher Bocog, 45; and Neil Li, 41. They were remembered as fathers, sons and providers whose absence continues to shape their families’ lives.
More than nine months after the explosion, a grand jury returned eight indictments in what prosecutors have described as the most complex case in Yolo County history.
Five men face murder charges in connection to the explosion: Kenneth Chee, founder of Devastating Pyrotechnics, the fireworks company at the center of the blast; Gary Chan, who obtained a federal explosives license Chee was ineligible for; Jack Lee, Chee’s longtime operations manager; Douglas Tollefsen, who also worked with Chee; and Sam Machado, a former Yolo County sheriff’s lieutenant who leased the property to the company.
Machado’s wife, Tammy, pleaded not guilty on Monday to five felony charges, including tax and mortgage fraud, child endangerment and animal cruelty.
Two other defendants were indicted but not charged with murder. Craig Cutright, a volunteer firefighter for the Esparto Fire Protection District, faces 10 counts related to the possession and transportation of explosives and conspiracy. Ronald Botelho III, arrested in a Del Norte County raid in December, also faces conspiracy and explosives charges tied to the Esparto property.
The families filed a $35 million wrongful death claim naming two fireworks companies operating on the property, along with several public agencies and officials, including Yolo County Sheriff Tom Lopez, county building official Scott Doolittle, county hazmat supervisor Moustumi Hasan, Esparto Fire Protection District Chief Curtis Lawrence and State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant.
In the courtroom, that loss was laid out in personal terms, as family members stepped forward to describe the impact of the explosion on their lives.
‘A daily hurt’
First to speak was Maria Melendez, wife of Joel Melendez.
“This catastrophic incident resulted in multiple deaths, including my husband,” Melendez said. “My husband died suddenly and violently.”
She said his death had left a profound void in a family that depended on him. Their infant son was recently diagnosed with autism, she said.
Maria Soriano’s partner, Christopher Bocog, died in the blast. “His death permanently changed our lives,” Soriano said. Their son turned six just weeks after the explosion. “As the sole parent, I have to stand up for our son,” she said.
Third to speak was Tiffany Nolan-Rodriguez, whose husband Carlos Rodriguez-Mora died in the blast.
“The impact on our family has been something we will carry forever,” she said. “My husband was a father and now our two children have to grow up without him,” she said.
“Angel graduated in May, turned 18 in June and died in July,” his father, Matt Voller, told the court.
He said the defendants “did what they wanted” and “took advantage of the system.” He described the pain of losing his son in stark terms. “This is a daily hurt,” he said. “An hourly hurt. They will never feel what it felt like.”
Voller also called out one of the defendants, Sam Machado, for “hiding behind the wall” of the courtroom’s holding cell. He said Machado appeared to avoid looking at the families gathered in court. “He’s cowardly,” Voller said.
Next, Jhanelly Ramos, sister of Jesús and Jhony Ramos, spoke. “They have blood on their hands,” she said.
She described her older brother as a new father and the loss her family continues to face. “It’ll never be the same,” she said. “I pray every single day and I ask the lord for you guys to see the bad and the horror you guys caused in our lives,” Ramos told the defendants.
Jesús Ramos’ girlfriend, Syanna Ruiz, was the final speaker. “Make them face the consequences of their actions,” she implored the court. She then turned to the defendants. “You guys took away the father of my daughter,” she said.
From the bench, McGuire thanked the family members for speaking and acknowledged their pain.
Concluding the hearing, he remanded the men to custody. One other man, Kenneth Chee, remains in Florida await extradition. Tammy Machado remains out on bail.
‘They’re always with me’
Jhony Ramos Sr., father of Jesús and Jhony, said their family has struggled emotionally and financially since the deaths.
“When they killed two, they killed all the family, remember that,” Jhony Ramos Sr. said.
“He feels dead sometimes,” said Ruth Faire, a paralegal who has been supporting the families through the court process. “It’s a struggle for him daily to wake up and continue to live knowing he no longer has his own two children.”
She said the loss has rippled through the entire family. “Jhanelly’s missing her brothers. Ernesto’s missing his brothers. The entire family structure is broken.”
“It’s so hard right now,” Ramos said.
Faire agreed. “Especially for Syanna who has a new baby, she’s 18 years old,” she said. “She barely turned 18 and now she has to face life without the father of her child.”
Some days, it’s hard for him to even get out of bed, Faire said of Ramos. “He doesn’t sleep,” she said.
“When I’m in my bed I always hear them ask me for help,” he said. “He always called me when he felt a little pain. I know he called for me on that day when they got killed.”
Ramos held a plaque with photos of his two sons. “They’re always with me,” he said. “He always sees me, he’s always laughing, they were both always laughing.”
His voice broke as he described the loss of his children.
“Put yourself in my shoes,” he said. “Just think about it.”
‘Do your job’
After the explosion, the families grew frustrated with the pace of the investigation and the lack of communication from the county, Larry Sullivan, the uncle of one of the victims, said in an interview conducted about two weeks before the indictments were announced.
Sullivan’s nephew, Joel Melendez, was “needlessly killed in the Esparto explosion,” he wrote in a February letter to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. He said the county had “utterly failed” to deliver justice to the victims. “Do your job,” he wrote.
He said that frustration deepened as families learned multiple local agencies were aware of an illegal fireworks operation at the Esparto property. “This thing stinks to high heaven,” he said.
Even though he believes the charges are appropriate, Sullivan said it was surprising that a longtime sheriff’s employee was charged with murder.
“I think, particularly in minority communities, there’s a sense that the government doesn’t care about them,” he said. “There’s a sense that the long injustices that they’ve experienced collectively as communities will continue, and they get very frustrated when they see something like this happen.”
That frustration was compounded by the long wait for answers. “It takes months and months to finally get any type of closure or justice whatsoever,” he said. “It’s very painful, and it’s humiliating and belittling.”
Sullivan said he wrote to several officials seeking answers, including President Donald Trump. He said his conversations with the District Attorney’s Office during the nine-month investigation were unsatisfying.
Still awaiting answers
A few weeks before the indictments were announced, Sullivan said he reconnected with prosecutors, whom he felt had redoubled their efforts to communicate with and support the families.
“I was very happy with the district attorney, his office and their personnel,” Sullivan said after the indictments were announced. “It seems to me that they did a very thorough job.”
Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig said he assigned two employees to support the families. But those employees are limited in what information and documents they can share.
Until the trials conclude — a process Reisig acknowledged could take years — “all of the criminal reports, anything having to do with key elements, are locked down,” he said. That includes a Cal Fire report detailing what caused the explosion.
“What was the exact causation, what was the exact moment, how could it have been avoided? Were they aware of all the pitfalls?” Sullivan asked. “Those kinds of questions should have been answered long ago.”
The indictments mark an important new chapter in the search for justice, Sullivan said.
“I know it’s not as much closure for the actual mothers who lost children, who lost their sons, as it is for others, because they didn’t have this deep of a loss,” he said. “But everybody lost. None of this should have happened.”
He said he understands the case will take time, with defense attorneys expected to vigorously defend their clients, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“I believe in justice. I believe in fairness for everyone,” Sullivan said. “But those kids that got killed, they didn’t get any justice.”
