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The new district attorney in Los Angeles wants to drop special circumstance allegations against a man charged last year with shooting an off-duty law enforcement officer in the head, according to a report.
The move by DA George Gascon has angered the sister of Los Angeles County deputy Joseph Gilbert Solano, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported Tuesday.
"Completely in shock, I can’t even tell you, my heart just dropped, I couldn’t believe it," Christina Solano told the station. "He should be there for the families, we are the victims here, not this person who shot him. I don’t understand what his purpose is to let these murderers out of jail, I don’t get it, he’s like the Devil, I don’t understand it."
CALIFORNIA DEPUTY SHOT WHILE GETTING FOOD AT JACK IN THE BOX HAS DIED, OFFICIALS SAY
Rhett Nelson, 31, of Utah, was accused of walking up to Deputy Solano at a Jack in the Box fast-food outlet in Alhambra in June 2019 and shooting him in the back of the head. The 50-year-old Solano died two days later.
Earlier that same day, prosecutors said Nelson also fatally shot Dmitry Koltsov, a professional skateboarder from Russia.
Incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is sworn in as his wife Fabiola Kramsky holds a copy of the Constitution on Dec. 7. (Bryan Chan/County of Los Angeles via AP)
HERE'S A LIST OF CRIMES ON LA'S NEW DA'S DO-NOT-PROSECUTE LIST
After his arrest, Nelson was charged with two counts each of murder and second-degree robbery as well as one count of attempted murder.
His case also included special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle as well as allegations of using a handgun in the commission of the crimes.
A portrait sits next to the casket of Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Joseph Solano during a memorial service Monday morning June 24, 2019 at Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
As charged, Nelson faces a maximum prison sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Fox 11 reported.
Without the special circumstance allegations, Nelson faces a sentence of at least 40 years and be eligible for parole, according to the station.
Nelson has pleaded not guilty.
Gascon, a former LAPD cop, was sworn in as DA last week and has vowed to reform the criminal justice system by eliminating the death penalty, doing away with cash bail in many cases, and refusing to impose special circumstance allegations as sentencing enhancements.
A representative from Gascon’s transition issued a statement to Fox 11 that said that the prison sentence Nelson would face is 40 years to life.
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“If convicted, there is a possibility that decades from now, the parole board could determine he’s been rehabilitated,” the statement said. “Such a determination, many years from now, would ultimately be a reflection of a system and the public alike weighing their continued interest in incarcerating a man who no longer poses a threat to society at an extraordinary taxpayer cost. Eliminating that remote possibility today may not be in the public’s interest decades from now."
