BY: LBS STAFF
Published 1 hour ago
The murdered mother of the girl is said to have introduced her to the furry community, where she encountered suspect Frank Sato Felix and “Brony” Joshua Charles Acosta, who later fatally shot the teen’s parents and another man while her two younger sisters slept close by.
A California man was given life in prison for his role in the 2016 murders of three people — two of whom were the parents of a teen girl prosecutors say he became “obsessed” with after meeting via a group for “furries.”
After Frank Sato Felix was convicted of three felony counts of first-degree murder and three felony enhancements of multiple murders back in November 2024, he was sentenced on Friday to three consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, per the East Bay Times.
During the hearing, he reportedly referred to himself as a “beast” and was emotional as he gave a statement. “To the families and the victims, I would trade places in a minute with those who were killed,” he purportedly said.
The sister of one of the victims also spoke, per the outlet, saying, “No sentence can erase the horrors of that night,” when asking for the maximum sentence possible.
“Obsession” Leads to Murder
Felix and accomplice Joshua Charles were both convicted in November 2024 of murdering Jennifer Goodwill-Yost, 39, her husband Christoper Yost, and family friend Arthur “Billy” Boucher on September 24, 2016.
Per the Orange County District Attorney, Felix met the teen girl at the center of the murders via the “furry” subculture, where adults dress up in animal costumes. According to prosecutors, it was the girl’s mother who introduced her to the community.
At the time they met when Felix was 25, the girl also met Charles, then a 21-year-old Army mechanic and “Brony” — or My Little Pony fan — via the subculture.
Prosecutors say Felix and the teen became “romantically involved” — but Goodwill-Yost and her husband, the girl’s stepfather, “disapproved of the relationship.”
A friend who said she met the mother-daughter duo at a furry gathering told Army Times that several weeks before the murders, Jennifer had forbidden the girl from seeing Felix.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, say Felix “became obsessed with” the girl after meeting.
“[Felix] became despondent and angry and eventually formulated a plan,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Seton Hunt told the jury during trial, according to the Orange County Register. “[Felix and Acosta] determined they would solve the problem by saving the 17-year-old from the clutches of her mother and stepfather by murdering them.”
Hunt also claimed that after the breakup, Felix reportedly “cut his arm in front of the girl.”
The 2016 Murders of Jennifer & Christopher Yost
According to prosecutors, Felix is the one who provided the ammunition and shotgun used to kill the three victims at the Yost’s home the night of the murders.
“On September 24, 2016, Acosta and Felix drove to the Yosts’ Fullerton home to execute their plan to help the 17-year-old to escape the home until she turned 18,” said the DA in their press release.
After Boucher went to sleep, the teen then allegedly went to wait in the truck with Felix, while Acosta went on a shooting spree. Prosecutors say he first shot Boucher, 28, in the head while he slept on the couch, before going upstairs and shooting the girl’s mother in the face. Christopher Yost allegedly “attempted to escape,” but was shot in the head while trying to exit to the “outside patio area.”
The three suspects then “fled” the area, returning to Felix’s Sun Valley home, where prosecutors say they “burned their clothes and attempted to destroy their cell phones.”
The three victims weren’t the only ones home that night, however … and the teen’s 6 and 9-year-old sisters “woke up to find their parents dead along with their friend and called 911.”
In the 911 call, one of the girls reportedly said, “My dad is outside in the backyard dead, my mom is in her bed dead.”
The Aftermath
Felix was later arrested at his Sun Valley home, while Acosta was apprehended at his barracks at Fort Irwin.
During Acosta’s trial, the teen testified, claiming she was molested by her stepfather and Felix had “blackmailed” her into having sex with him by threatening to tell her mom about the alleged abuse — according to the Orange County Register. As the East Bay Times noted, prosecutors have said there’s no way to verify those allegations.
Felix also reportedly told police, “I knew she wouldn’t be safe if the parents weren’t killed.”
Acosta was sentenced in 2018 to life in state prison without the possibility of parole.
via: TooFab
