Resentencing scheduled for two convicted of murder of couple
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
Two defendants convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole are scheduled to be resentenced in April following a U.S. Supreme Court decision banning mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.
Kyle Hoffman and Luis Palafox will be resentenced April 11. They could still receive life without parole, or they could be sentenced to 25 years to life.
A June Supreme Court decision ruled that children can't automatically be punished with the same sentence an adult would receive without considering their age and other factors, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Hoffman, 21, and Palafox, 20, were convicted of the murders of Joseph and Dorothy Parrot on Aug. 24, 2010. The two went to the Parrotts' home on Aug. 4, 2008 looking for items to steal, and Palafox went inside the home, stabbed the couple and beat them with a baseball bat, police reports filed in court say.
Joseph Parrott was 81, and his wife was 77. At the time of the murders, Hoffman was 17 and Palafox 16.
Hoffman has said he waited outside, but prosecutors believe he participated in the killings and, even if he didn't, his sentence was appropriate because his role aided in the killings and he stole from the victims after they were dead.
In March 2010, Hoffman withdrew a plea agreement he'd accepted months earlier to be sentenced to 25 years to life with a chance at parole. The agreement was on the condition he testify in the trial of Palafox.
Hoffman never went to police to say what happened, but in November 2008 he told a youth minister who then reported the crimes and suspects to police.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by...
Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
The death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva immediately following his apparent beating Wednesday by Kern County law enforcement officers raises questions that have been asked in Bakersfield many times before -- questions about the use of deadly force by police.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
A war of words erupted Friday over video footage taken of David Sal Silva’s deadly encounter with law enforcement officers.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.