West Sacramento Man Convicted Of October 2000 Murder Granted Parole
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A West Sacramento man who was convicted of an October 2000 murder was granted parole this week, officials said on Friday.
David Cree, 41, is an inmate at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad. According to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office, Cree was granted parole on Wednesday, April 7 in what was his fifth hearing after being denied numerous times over the last decade.
On Oct. 8, 2000, Cree and a juvenile partner were driving along West Capitol Avenue after a night a of drinking and pulled up on two men asking "where are the girls," the DA said in a news release.
The minor pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, which the pair had previously modified, and fired multiple rounds at the victims – Jimmie Richardson and Gregory Rowan. Rowand survived the shooting but Richardson died later that day, the DA said.
Cree has claimed that he was looking for someone who had stabbed him 10 months earlier, the DA said. He was later sentenced to life in prison.
Cree was denied parole in 2014, 2017, and 2019. Although he was granted parole in 2016, then-Governor Jerry Brown reversed the parole board's decision.
At the April 7 hearing, it was determined Cree was no longer a threat to public safety despite him revealing new information including that the gun used in the murder was "secreted at his uncle's house," and that he was involved in a domestic violence situation prior to the shooting, the DA said.
Cree had also previously spent three years at the California Youth Authority for shooting and killing a 46-year-old man who acted sexually aggressive toward him, officials said.
Despite the board granting Cree parole, the decision won't become final until an internal review is completed by the board and the governor.