Chino city leaders and community members denounce transfer of death row inmates to local prison

More than two dozen death row inmates are now sitting in a Chino prison, much to the disdain of city officials who are now demanding something be done about the problem. 

The California Institution for Men is located less than half a mile from the the College Park neighborhood, where there are hundreds of single family homes. Also close by are parks, stores, businesses and schools, and even though unlikely with an electrified fence surrounding the prison's property and security guards working around the clock, the possibility of an inmate escaping is top of mind for many. 

Last month Mayor Eunice Ulloa said that she's "appalled that they would choose to house the worst of the worst prisoners in our state in such close proximity" to that area. 

Ulloa was one of many Chino city leaders who held a press conference on Tuesday to address the issue. 

"To think this prison can successfully house the worst of the worst criminals in our state is wrong," she said, claiming that the inmates' arrivals were a complete surprise, especially since the prison is currently one of the oldest in the state of California and in need of millions of dollars worth of repairs. 

Also amongst speakers was Mary Ann Hughes, whose 11-year-old son Christopher was one of the four people brutally murdered by Kevin Cooper, a prison escapee, in 1983. 

"When Chris didn't come home for church, went up to look for them," Hughes said, recalling the night that her husband found their son dead. "Instead, he found our son Christopher, Doug and Peg Ryan, their daughter Jessica, butchered."

So far, there have been 39 death row inmates transferred from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center to the CIM by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as part of Proposition 66, which allows condemned inmates to participate in prison programs, including prison jobs, to pay off their restitution to their victims. 

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson explained that the transfer falls in line with what California voters approved  in 2016, but that prison officials must comply fully with the law.  

"To maintain the death chambers for these condemned inmates that were given the death penalty," Anderson said. "We're not in a situation and we never should be in a state in which portions of the law are chosen and other portions of the law are discarded ... depending on your rhetoric and politics."

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation issued a statement upon request from KCAL News.

"All 19 facilities where condemned individuals are being transferred, including the California Institution for Men (CIM), have a secure facility perimeter with a lethal electrified fence," the statement read in part. "While the 2018 facility walkaway wis troubling, CDCR can assure the public that these individuals will never be housed in that facility — which is outside of the lethal electrified fence."

To date, there have been three high-profile escapes from CIM, according to Chino Police Department Lt. Aaron Kelliher. Most recently in 2018, when Michael Garrett, who was convicted for vehicle theft, was discovered missing before he was arrested days later.