Man Pleads Guilty To 2015 Murder And Sexual Assault Of Six-Year-Old

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Juan Rivera pled guilty to the 2015 murder of six-year-old Jadianna Larsen Wednesday.

Rivera was accused of sexually assaulting and killing his girlfriend's six-year-old daughter, then setting her body on fire. He pled guilty to murdering Jadianna and the special circumstance he committed the murder while engaged in committing a lewd or lascivious act on her, according to the Sacramento District Attorney. He also pled guilty to committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years of age.

In May of 2015, Rivera told authorities he passed out after a series of seizures while babysitting then six-year-old Jadianna Larsen, and when he woke she was gone. Authorities later found out he faked the seizures after driving to 90 miles to Glenn County and burning the child's body.

According to the DA, Riveria took custody of Larsen after convincing her mother to leave for medical reasons. Between May 27 and 28 of 2015, he sexually assaulted Jadianna and inflicted blunt force trauma that resulted in her death.

Riveria's mother, Lisa Burton, aided her son after the homicide by providing him with a stolen vehicle to transport the child's body to Glenn County.

On April 21, 2017, Burton pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and vehicle theft.  She was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

The homicide shook the community back in 2015, hundreds came together for a vigil in Jadianna's honor to remember the young life that was lost.

Rivera will be sentenced in August 17, according to the Sacramento DA.