Bio

Socorro Caro was born on March 27, 1957. Her parents are Greg and Juanita Leon. Her father worked as a brick mason and later retired.

She studied for a degree in nursing before she worked for her husband's medical practice. Xavier Caro asked her to be the office manager. Her job included keeping track of office finances.

She married Dr. Xavier Caro in 1984. She was sometimes called "Cora." She and her husband had four children.

Her father, Greg Leon, did repair work on the family's Santa Rosa Valley home. He said he received payment from his daughter for labor and supplies. Some of the work followed damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Murder Story

Socorro Caro was born on March 27, 1957. On November 22, 1999, three of her four children were killed in Santa Rosa Valley, California.

The victims were Xavier Jr., 11, Michael, 8, and Christopher, 5. A fourth son, 13-month-old Gabriel, was unharmed and later lived with his father.

Prosecutors said Caro was angry after a fight with her husband and shot the three boys while they slept. The killings occurred with a .38 caliber handgun. Caro then shot herself in the head in an attempted suicide and was arrested the same day. She survived and later said the injury caused brain damage that prevented her from remembering the events. Reports note she was taking Prozac and an anti-anxiety medication at the time.

Caro was tried on three counts of first-degree murder. The jury convicted her on November 6, 2001. Jurors later found her sane and recommended the death penalty. On April 5, 2002, she was sentenced to death. Her defense had argued that her husband killed the children and framed her, and she also entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.