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Families of victims in deadly Esparto explosion give statements as 6 defendants appear in court

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Kayla Moeller
Kayla Moeller
A California native, Kayla was born in the coastal town of Monterey, and spent her formative years in the Bay Area. She is thrilled to be back in NorCal reporting only an hour and a half from home.
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Kayla Moeller

/ CBS Sacramento

The arraignment continues for six out of the eight people arrested in connection with the Esparto explosion that killed seven men.

The defendants, attorneys, and families of the victims returned to the courtroom Thursday. This time, the families gave statements on the hardships they've faced since the incident.

"I feel better that at least this is how far we've gotten with getting some justice for my son and the other six," said Guadalupe Melendez, mother of victim Joel Melendez Jr.

The district attorney's office said a million pounds of explosives and fireworks were on the property owned by former Yolo County sheriff's deputy Samuel Machado.

"As we laid out in our motion, he's a landlord. That's essentially his role in this operation," said David Fischer, Sam Machado's attorney.

Tammy and Samuel Machado were arraigned and will appear back in court next week for a pre-hearing conference. Tammy Machado is the only person out on bail. Samuel Machado will remain in custody; the judge denied his request to set bail.

"There's a massive presence of sheriff deputies in this courtroom and around the community that Mr. Machado has developed very close relationships with. We believe he could easily and actively evade detection," said Deanna Hays, Yolo County Deputy District Attorney.

"I want to ask for you to not set bail for them. Please, your honor, they have seven people on their hands," said Jhanelly Ramos, sister of victims Jhony and Jesus Ramos.

Families of the victims pleaded with the judge to deny bail and ultimately, there were no changes in bail for any of the defendants. Jack Lee, Douglas Tollefsen, Craig Cutright and Gary Chan will continue their arraignments next week.

On Friday, Cutright's defense team filed a motion to lift the hold on Cutright's bail and release him. A hearing on that matter is scheduled for Monday, April 20.   

"The thing I'm grateful for is that my boyfriend is getting his justice," said Siana Ruiz, girlfriend of Jesus Ramos.

Jesus Ramos had a baby on the way when he was killed. That baby was in the courtroom Thursday.

"It's been hard without him. And it wasn't fair what happened to them, unfortunately. It's impacted us in many different ways. At least their souls will be able to rest peacefully once everything settles," said Ruiz.

Joel Melendez Jr. would've just turned 29 years old. His family says they recently celebrated by singing "Happy Birthday" to an empty chair.

"We just want justice. I can't ask for my son back because if I could, that's all I would want is my son. But I can't have that, so the next best thing is to have who is responsible for this, pay for it," said Melendez.

The next court date is April 22. The six defendants will all return at the same time. 

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