John Cocozza

I have been waiting 24 years for my neighbor David Westerfield to be executed for the kidnapping and murder of my 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam. And now thanks to @GavinNewsom, it looks like it will never happen. I was 13 when he abducted her from her bedroom in the middle of the night in 2002. I would never equate what I experienced with what her family suffered, but Danielle's murder devastated our whole neighborhood, and me personally. I was a sensitive kid and it was a major contributor to my mental health decline in adolescence. In the 20 days between her disappearance and his arrest, I developed insomnia and spent those nights walking around the house checking the locks on the doors and windows. I followed the trial closely. As we learned the horrific details, I couldn't stop thinking about what she endured during the 3 days he had her. Her body was found dumped off the side of a road 25 days after she went missing. It was too decomposed to test for sexual assault, but we all knew that's why he took her. He was also convicted of possessing child sexual abuse material found on his computer. There was never any doubt about Westerfield's guilt. There was an abundance of forensic evidence, including her blood on his clothing and in his motorhome. In 2019, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld his conviction and death sentence. Shortly afterward, Newsom imposed his moratorium. And now he does THIS. California voters rejected abolishing the death penalty in both 2012 and 2016, and even voted to expedite executions. All these years, I've held on to the hope that someone would eventually take office who respected the will of California voters and would allow these sentences to be carried out. It's especially insulting to hear Newsom go on about morality, as if he is morally superior to those of us whose lives were affected by these heinous crimes and who want to see the perpetrators brought to justice. I'm hoping the California Supreme Court can stop Westerfield's commutation.