Carolina Sandoval, mother of Makayla Settles, 18, has voiced her distress and anger regarding the one-year county jail sentence given to Makayla's father, Stephen Chavez, 41. Chavez pleaded guilty in May to incest and providing alcohol to a minor, stemming from an incident in July 2025. Makayla died by suicide in December 2025, approximately five months after the alleged sexual assault.
Sandoval told the Daily Mail that Chavez, who entered Makayla's life when she was nine, had groomed her daughter for months. She stated that Chavez had promised Makayla a new life in California, even offering to fund her college education and contribute $500 monthly to a college fund. This perceived opportunity, which Sandoval described as "selling her a dream," led Makayla to visit him in California in December 2024 to prepare for an eventual move.
During this December 2024 visit, Sandoval recounted an incident where Chavez allegedly plied Makayla with alcohol. She reported that her daughter later told her she woke up in her underwear, a situation Chavez attributed to her passing out and him carrying her to bed, suggesting she must have removed her own clothes. Sandoval was unaware of this encounter until Makayla disclosed the July 2025 attack.
In July 2025, when Sandoval joined her daughter to help her move to California, Chavez again allegedly provided alcohol to Makayla after a family gathering. Prosecutors stated Chavez admitted to buying alcohol for both himself and Makayla with the intent of having sex with her at his home. Following this, Makayla returned to North Carolina, reportedly "heartbroken and sad."
Sandoval said her daughter called her "hysterically crying" after the July 2025 incident, and they immediately went to a hospital to provide a rape kit to the police. Makayla also provided a video testimony and wrote about the event in her diary. Despite this evidence, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office stated they could not charge Chavez with rape due to a "lack of evidence." They cited legal barriers, including Makayla's death, which meant there were no living witnesses to corroborate the assault, and the inability to meet the burden of proof under California law for charges beyond incest and distributing alcohol to a minor, even with DNA evidence from the rape kit.
Chavez was sentenced to one year in county jail and three years of probation. A judge reportedly declined to impose a full three-year sentence, citing Chavez's lack of prior criminal offenses. The district attorney's office acknowledged the victim impact statements from Makayla's family, who described the "lasting trauma" and "devastating loss" caused by Chavez's actions. Deputy District Attorney Tessa McCarty condemned Chavez's conduct, stating he "exploited his position as a father, violated his daughter’s trust, supplied her with alcohol, and engaged in criminal conduct that forever altered the course of her life."
Sandoval expressed her devastation and frustration with the outcome, calling the sentence "ridiculous" and questioning what further evidence authorities required. She also recounted confronting Chavez by phone after the incident, during which he claimed to have "blacked out" and had no memory of the assault, yet she noted he did not seem surprised by the allegations. Chavez was arrested after this phone call, leading to his admission of providing alcohol to his underage daughter.