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PUBLIC SAFETY. - The California Public Safety Committee recently voted on a bill (SB 94) authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Santa Clara) which states that those individuals convicted of murder, even with special circumstances up to and including multiple victims, or killed in concert with rape, robbery ,kidnapping or torture and who received a Death Sentence or Life without the Possibly of Parole prior to June 5th, 1990 - be given the opportunity to be provided with a public defender to petition the courts for re-sentencing, which would then allow them to have their sentences invalidated and make them eligible for parole.
The co-authors of SB 94 include Democrat Senators Josh Becker (San Mateo), Nancy Skinner (Berkeley), Scot Wiener (San Francisco), and Assemblywoman Corrie Jackson (Riverside), and Akilah Weber (San Diego).
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, Alameda County DA Pamela Price and California Attorney General Rob Bonta all support letting the worst of the worst killers be released early from our California state prisons, after only serving 15 -20 years of their original sentences of death or life without the possibility of parole
I should note that this bill could be amended to include all inmates currently incarcerated with a sentence of Death or Life without the Possibility of Parole after June 1990.
During the last two years the California Department of Corrections has seen an increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults, many of which resulted in the death of another inmate. Many of these inmate deaths were committed by inmates already incarcerated for murder.
Now the question is - how many of those already incarcerated for murder which had received a sentence of Death or Life without the possibility of parole did the District Attorney of the County where the prison is located file new criminal charges surrounding the inmate-on-inmate killings?
How can any Los Angeles County resident during the years of 1977- 1978 forget about the Hillside Strangler murders. During this time period Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianch killed ten women, two of which were young girls who resided in the Northeast area of Los Angeles. All of the female victims were sexually assaulted and tortured before they were killed and then dumped on the Hillside areas of Northeast Los Angeles.
In 1983, Buono received a sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole and Bianchi received multi life terms to be served in the state of Washington.
Can you see Buono’s Life Sentence invalidated and his release from state prison?
Buono died in state prison in 2002. He was a MONSTER.
As we have seen, our far left state elected officials are pandering to the minority activists concerned with criminal justice reform . In doing so, they have failed to do their due diligence in examining all of the facts and the fallout of early releases of convicted felons.
Our overall crime rate within the state of California has increased tenfold, including violent crimes.
Our violent crimes involving gang rivalry has also increased. And lets not forget about the major increases in property related crimes and the major death rate increases due to the consumption of illegal drugs.
Here is a perfect example of case in point.
Timothy Chavira in 1986 was found guilty of the beating and stabbing to death his stepmother. He subsequently received a prison sentence of 26 years to life and was released from California state prison in 2017.
In December 2019 Timothy Chavira stabbed to death retired doctor Editha Cruz de Leon in her El Sereno home. In 2020 Chavira received a new prison sentence with special circumstance allegations that he was previously convicted for first-degree murder. Chavira received a new prison sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole.
There is never a guarantee that an individual will not reoffend.
Governor Newsom is on track to close down 6 California State Prisons, and the California Department of Corrections continues to release violent convicted offenders each and every day onto our streets without any parole plans to include a residence.
If the Governor signs off on SB 94 (and most likely he will), and if it is amended, here are the names of just a few inmates that could be back on our streets in Los Angeles County. Geovanni Borjas received a prison sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of two females from Lincoln Heights.
Ka Pasasouk received the Death Sentence for the execution type shooting 2012 ( shot each of four victims in the head ) in the San Fernando Valley area of Northridge. Pasasouk had a prior prison confinement for Robbery and Vehicle Theft.
Timothy Joseph McGhee received a Death Sentence for the horrific murder of three individuals. LAPD believes that he is responsible for up to10 other killings mostly gang related. He was removed from San Quentin Death row and placed in general housing in another California state prison. During his housing in San Quentin he made an attempt to kill a correctional officer.
In December 2021, Michael Christopher Mejia received a prison sentence, Life without the Possibility of Parole, for the shooting death of his cousin in East Los Angeles and the shooting death of Whittier police officer Patrick Hazell. Mejia's conviction included two counts of first- degree murder, one count each of attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon. Michael Mejia was also a prior prison convicted felon and hard core gang member.
In April of 1995, Richard Vadez and Jimmy Palma were convicted for execution type murder of five individuals (three adults, one small child and one infant) in the South El Monte area. This was an execution, a hit ordered by the Mexican Mafia. Both Valdez and another named individual Luis Maciel received a Death Sentence. Palma was killed in state Prison . All three Valdez, Palma and Maciel were gang members.
How can we forget the brutal murder of 8 year old Gabriel Fernandez . Gabriel was beaten and murdered by his mother Pearl Fernandez and his mother boyfriend Isauro Aguirre. Fernandez received a Life Sentence and Aguirre received Death Sentence.
Just yesterday the mother of 10 year old Anthony Avalos, Heather Barron received a Life Sentence without the possibility of parole for the torture and murder of her son, Anthony. Also convicted and receiving the same sentence was Barron's boyfriend Kareem Leiva. Barron's immediate family members referred to both now convicted felons and murders as MONSTERS.
Can you just imagine any of the above named individuals being re-released back into our community again?
These politicans won’t change their stripes until one of their loved ones becomes a victim of one of these violent crimes.
(Caroline Aguirre is a retired 24-year State of California law enforcement officer, LAPD family member, community activist and Neighborhood Watch captain. Aguirre is a CityWatch contributor. The opinions expressed by Caroline Aguirre do not reflect those of CityWatch.)
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