In 1987, while on parole for voluntary manslaughter, he murdered a man during a robbery, a crime for which he was sentenced to die.

[1] In 2020, Machado became one of a dozen California death row inmates to die in the span of less than two months as the result of a COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin State Prison.

After initially being detained at several camps, he went to Richmond, Virginia, in 1981, under the sponsorship of a married couple with young children.

Machado then approached one of the store's clerks, but fled when the man pulled out a shotgun and told him to stop.

[3] On May 12, 1987, a drunk Machado made sexual advances toward Sandra S., a local sex worker, near her apartment building late at night.

Having a "real bad feeling", Sandra looked forward to see Machado masturbating at the foot of her bed.

By the time another one of Sandra's friends, Anthony Simpkins, arrived, Machado had finished raping her.

[3] On May 15, Machado met a woman named Belinda Denise Ross as she was cashing a welfare check.

Around this time, 35-year-old Allen Ray Birkman, a technician for the Sacramento Police Department, withdrew money from his wife's account at an ATM.

[3] Birkman had married a woman named Barbara Martinez about a year and a half before his murder.

Before they were married, a doctor told the two that Birkman, who had struggled with a lung condition since his childhood, was dying from aspergillosis, and likely only had about five years left to live.

The officers told Patton they were investigating the stabbing at the Golden 1 Credit Union and asked her if she knew anything about the car used by the perpetrators.

Slatten had driven to a store with no cars in the parking lot and no people present outside, other than Machado.

[3] Ross admitted being the getaway driver in Birkman's murder, but denied knowing that Machado was going to rob and kill him.

[9][10] During the sentencing phase for Machado, the prosecution pointed to his prior convictions and history of violence as aggravating factors.

Machado's defense team discussed his troubled upbringing and gave examples of times when he'd shown kindness, including positive interactions he had with Neetelfer Hawkins.

Birkman's family, who gave victim impact statements in court, were mostly indifferent to the question over whether Machado should be executed, saying all that mattered to them is that he die in prison.