Saginaw Man Imprisoned for Killing Pregnant Woman and 2 Men

This article was originally published from Saginaw and Bay City News’ author Cole Waterman.

SAGINAW, MI — Tears flowed in torrents in a Saginaw courtroom as a 51-year-old man learned how much time he’d spend behind bars for killing three relatives, including a pregnant woman. None of the tears fell from the killer’s eyes, though, as he remained stone-faced and seemingly unrepentant.

“You were supposed to be family. You were supposed to be our family,” cried the mother of one of the three victims.

Juan M. Mireles appeared before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson for sentencing on Thursday, April 10. Mireles in November pleaded no contest to manslaughter and felony firearm in connection with the June 5, 2022, shooting deaths of Laura Buendia, Mariano Escareño, and Rafael J. “Rafa” Campos, all 24.

Mireles perpetrated the shooting at Buendia’s parents’ house in the 300 block of South 11th Street during a family cookout. Mireles showed up there and opened fire after hearing people there were discussing his history of violence.

Prosecutors dismissed three counts each of open murder and second-offense felony firearm and single counts of carrying a concealed weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.

When Mireles entered the courtroom Thursday, he immediately proclaimed he was withdrawing his plea. Jackson told him there was no legal basis for him to do so and he could take the matter up with appellate counsel.

Images from the Trial

Mireles declined to speak further when the judge asked if there was anything he had to say.

Jackson related how he was reluctant to accept Mireles’ plea until the prosecution explained the resolution to the victims’ loved ones, who expressed dismay over Mireles not facing a life sentence. Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Shellbe A. Sanborn said she met with the family and thoroughly explained the plea deal’s necessity.

Jackson ended up sentencing Mireles to 129 months — or 10.75 years — to 30 years, with credit for 179 days served. The judge also imposed a consecutive two-year stint, though he gave Mireles credit for the full two years.

Before the sentence was imposed, seven bereaved relatives addressed the court, sharing how their lives have been devastated by Mireles’ actions.

“I want to forgive you and I know one day I’ll have to … but at this moment I cannot,” said Veronica Escareño, mother of Mariano Escareño and sister of Laura Buendia. “Manuel … I hope you rot and die in there so you never, ever walk the streets again and hurt anyone else’s child.”

Rafa Campos’ mother, Maria Esparza, said crying has become a part of her daily life, an aspect she has no choice but to get used to. Sandra Escareño, another of Buendia’s sisters, recalled her sister dying in her arms.

Though the seven-months-pregnant Buendia died, doctors managed to save her daughter, named Rosalina L. Buendia. The child has had to undergo surgeries and remains in therapy, Sandra Escareño said.

“Rosalina has to grow up without a mother,” she continued. “Rosie’s a warrior and growing stronger every day. I just wanna ask you, why? Why’d you have to go that far? Why couldn’t you be a man and just talk? They were good kids, they were innocent, and they were your family.”

The question of why Mireles opened fire on his family persisted throughout the mourners’ statements.

“We were family, Manuel,” said Juana Buendia, mother of Laura Buendia. “I don’t understand why this had to happen. I don’t hate you, Manuel. I just can’t forgive you. Why, Manuel, why?”

She sobbed as one of her daughters ushered her back to her seat.

Joshua Tello, Buendia’s long-term boyfriend and Rosie’s father, started his relationship with Buendia when they were in high school, having won her heart by giving her blue flowers.

“I would think, ‘How did I get so lucky to have her?‘” Tello said. “She was the gem and I had the honor to see her shine.”

Images from the Trial

He then turned his attention toward Mireles, standing taciturn nearby.

“Did it make you feel good shooting your own family?” Tello asked. Mireles stayed silent.

Tello wore the hooded sweatshirt his girlfriend was wearing when killed, the garment still bearing bullet holes and bloodstains.

“I wear this every day to remember, remember her and who she was,” Tello said.

After Jackson handed down the maximum possible sentence, he spoke directly to the victims’ family members.

“I am truly sorry for your losses,” Jackson said. “I feel your pain and I am frustrated that no matter what sentence I would have imposed today it cannot bring your loved ones back. You have my deepest sympathy, and I wish you all nothing but the best in the future.”

In his 30-plus years of involvement with Saginaw County’s criminal justice system, he could not remember another case wherein one defendant killed three people in the same incident, the judge said.

During a preliminary examination held in the spring of 2023, several witnesses shared their accounts of what transpired the evening of June 4, 2022, and into the next morning at Buendia’s parents’ house in the 300 block of South 11th Street. Mireles had not attended the gathering, though two of his sisters did.

The witnesses agreed the event started pleasantly enough. Late in the night, a woman attendee started saying Mireles assaulted her years earlier. Mireles’ sisters argued against this, but the other woman pressed the issue, leading to an argument, they testified.

The sisters said this woman brought her teenage son into the argument, with one sister saying this teen interjected “we got straps,” straps being slang for guns. They also said they saw Rafa Campos with a handgun, waving it around and rubbing it against his face.

Around 1 a.m., Buendia’s sister escorted two of those arguing from the property. Those who remained began cleaning up the yard and patio area.

Mireles’ sisters left the gathering for their own mother’s nearby home. About this time, they said they saw Mireles pull up in a minivan, exit the vehicle, and ask, “Who’s talking (expletive)?”

One sister said Mireles then walked toward a lot adjacent to the Buendias’ property, adding she and her husband walked a few steps behind him.

“I heard a pop, and I remember looking up and it was like smoke at a distance,” this sister testified. “I remember seeing people just moving, almost like they were positioning themselves.”

She then heard four to five more shots and ran between parked vehicles, she said. Her husband knelt behind her and said he thought he’d been shot in his hand and that his hip hurt, she said.

She and her husband ran toward her mom’s house, spotting a seemingly injured Mireles heading in the same direction.

The other sister, who was already at her mom’s home, said she looked out and saw a slow-walking Mireles approaching. One sister took vehicle keys from the other and drove her wounded husband to a local hospital, she said.

Another witness testified he was still at the gathering when he saw Mireles, a gun in his hand, and two others in the street walking toward the Buendias’ property. The witness said he saw Campos draw a gun of his own as Buendia said she was going to tell those approaching to leave.

The witness said he went next door, only to hear gunfire, seemingly from more than one gun based on the number of shots.

Buendia’s older sister testified she was inside her parents’ house when she heard eight quick gunshots, then one exceptionally loud one. She ran outside, saw her sister and Campos had been wounded and tried helping them. She also saw a black vehicle leave, of a type she knew to be driven by Mireles.

Buendia suffered three gunshot wounds: to the left side of her chest, her upper left back, and to her right foot. Escareño had been shot once, though the lone bullet had caused four external wounds. The bullet entered from the left backside of Escareño’s chest, exited near his right armpit, then reentered his upper right arm before exiting again. The bullet perforated Escareño’s left lung, aorta, pulmonary artery trunk, and right lung, the doctor said.

Campos suffered gunshot wounds to his head, both sides of his torso or chest area, two to the right side of his back, and two to his left leg.

Police recovered a 9mm handgun from Campos’ hand, a Saginaw police officer testified.

Mireles himself suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen. A fifth person, 27-year-old Jairo Mireles-Urive, also suffered at least one gunshot wound at the gathering.

The victims

Laura Buendia was an avid baker, having graduated from The Culinary Institute of Michigan in 2018. She received the bronze medal in commercial baking at the April 2017 Michigan SkillsUSA Competition. The following April, she took home the gold medal for commercial baking.

Buendia was engaged to the father of her daughter, Josh Tello, at the time of her death.

Mariano Escareño was an artist “who thrived as a drawer, painter, singer and dancer,” according to his obituary.

“He had an eye for rare details and utilized his gift of photography to capture beauty in the broken and precious moments in this life,” his obituary states. “He will always be remembered for his gentle heart, silly jokes, and Mexicano dance moves.”

Rafael Campos likewise had an “artistic soul,” according to his obituary.

“Rafael loved writing his own music,” his obituary states. “Rafael had a passion for sports, family, and friends. He was a big fan of Michigan State University football and basketball. Rafael loyally cheered them on whether it was a winning or losing season. He enjoyed tailgating and attending games with his older brother.”

Mireles in September 2011 was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of probation on convictions of felony firearm and felonious assault. Those convictions resulted from Mireles on Nov. 25, 2010 — Thanksgiving day — shooting his brother and pistol-whipping his ex-wife at his parents’ house, located a few doors down from Buendia’s parents’ home.