Cesar Delgadillo appears at the Luzerne County Courthouse on Jan. 23, 2026.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader file photo
WILKES-BARRE — A court proceeding on a request for records from Luzerne County Children, Youth, & Families involving four children linked to the homicide case against Cesar Delgadillo was canceled Wednesday.
Delgadillo’s attorneys, John B. Pike and Andrew D. Bigda, filed a motion seeking records and permission to interview four adopted children removed from their Butler Township home, where, state police investigators allege, 13-year-old Jacob Delgadillo was physically abused for more than a day before he died.
Wednesday’s hearing scheduled by Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Vough was canceled late Tuesday afternoon when a resolution was reached between Pike and Bigda, and the county’s child protection agency, officials said.
Pike said Wednesday he could not comment due to a court-imposed gag order.
Court records allege Cesar Delgadillo physically assaulted his adopted son, Jacob, with an electrical cord, a mallet, and a back scratcher on Aug. 3 and continued into the early morning hours on Aug. 4, 2025. Jacob Delgadillo was transported to Lehigh Valley Hospital – Hazleton, where he died Aug. 4, 2025.
Cesar Delgadillo’s wife, Virginia Delgadillo, was aware Jacob Delgadillo was being physically assaulted and failed to call 911. She also attempted, along with other children in the home, to clean up blood and discard evidence from the home prior to Butler Township police responding to the house, court records say.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, First Assistant District Attorney Anthony G. Ross, and Assistant District Attorneys Brian A. Coleman and Gerry Scott are seeking the death penalty for Cesar Delgadillo if convicted of first-degree murder.
Cesar Delgadillo remains jailed without bail. His trial is scheduled for November.
Virginia Delgadillo, facing numerous counts of child endangerment and tampering with evidence, remains jailed for lack of $250,000 bail. Her next court appearance is July 27.
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