Parents and supporters who have lost a loved one to a violent crime gathered at the Fresno County Juvenile Court on Monday to make their voices heard.

These Central Valley parents are calling for changes to California’s Proposition 57, saying the law has slowed prosecution of serious crimes committed by minors and allowed perpetrators to receive lighter sentences.

Stephen Quick, father of Caleb Quick, said he joined the group to highlight what he sees as systemic issues in prosecuting violent juvenile crimes.

“Lots of victims’ families throughout the Central Valley have had too common of a story. Kids are being murdered, premeditatedly planned, and this Prop 57 has really put chains on the district attorney’s hands and being able to charge these kids as adults,” Quick said.

Caleb was killed on April 23 in what the Clovis Police Department described as a targeted and planned attack. Since then, the Quick family have been attending the trial of the alleged shooter and getaway driver.

Quick told GV Wire that Caleb was about to graduate high school before his murder and was planning on joining the Air Force in early June.

Prop 57 Shifts the Decision from Prosecutors to Judges

Prop 57, known as the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act, passed in 2016. It removed the discretion of district attorneys to decide whether juveniles should be tried as adults, placing the decision instead in the hands of judges.

According to the California government website, Prop. 57 is designed to reform both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. It allows people convicted of nonviolent crimes who have served their full term and demonstrate they no longer pose a risk to the public to be considered for parole.

The measure also gives incarcerated individuals the opportunity to earn credits for good behavior and participation in rehabilitative, educational, and career training programs, helping them reintegrate successfully and reducing the likelihood of reoffending.

Quick said the law has created lengthy and costly legal processes.

“Prop 57 changed it to say now we need to go through a pretty substantial process to even consider. If we were going to charge these kids as adult or as a juvenile … it can take sometimes up to 36 months to go through this transfer hearing,” he said. “I think it’s a costly taxpayer expense where a lot of these cases in the past … the district attorney would just make the decision.”

Quick said he and other parents are advocating for reforms that would allow certain premeditated or violent crimes to go directly to adult court.

“I think the intent was to eliminate children under the age of 18 going into adult court. But in many cases, this law should be reformed to carve out plan murder, murder in the first,” he said.

Mother of Child Killed Speaks Out

Stephanie Tallez, another parent supporting Quick, said Prop. 57 currently allows minors who commit violent crimes to receive light sentences.

“Prop 57 allows for violent crimes that are committed by minors to basically get light sentences. And so we’re trying to reform Prop. 57 and change that so the sentence kind of fits the crime,” Tallez said.

Tallez said the effort is deeply personal.

“Well, unfortunately, my son was a victim of violence that was committed by a minor. He succumbed to his injuries and was fatally shot. And so we’re coming together to try to change that law. We did find out that, again, the minors are getting a very light sentence. And so, we’re trying to change and make it so the sentence fits the crime, if that makes sense,” she said.

Both parents said the group provides emotional support while pushing for legal reform.

“Now it’s, the grief, the support in this group has been astonishing for grief. Just to know that, you know, we’re in a camp where we don’t want to be members of,” Quick said. “Nobody ever wants to be in this membership where you lose a child due to this violence, teen violence .. It lifts my heart a little bit knowing that there’s other people that are supporting my son and I’m supporting their kids as well.”

Tallez  told GV Wire that her son was killed in a random act of violence on Thanksgiving in 2024. She now uses her story to push for a repeal for Prop. 57 and to comfort other parents who have been through similar situations.

Online Community Supporting Parents

Tallez encouraged other parents to join the movement through online communities.

“You can look at Justice for Lorenzo Sanchez. This is a Facebook that was created by Julia Sanchez, who initially … started this reform that gathered all of us here today and so we’re joining her … And again, follow us in our protest with eventually heading up to Sacramento,” Tallez said.

Their next protests are planned for the Fresno County Juvenile Court on Tuesday and another for Saturday, Oct. 11, on the corner of Nees and Blackstone avenues.

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