Gavin Newsom commutes every death sentence in California to life in prison

Thanks to action by California Governor Gavin Newsom on November 5, 548 inmates on the state’s death row will have their sentences commuted to life in prison as they prepare to leave death row.

“I have decided to commute every death sentence,” Newsom wrote in an open letter, acknowledging that he understood the decision would anger people and hurt the families of victims who opposed it.

“I will therefore grant the same commutation to each convicted person: life without parole, the harshest sentence that I can legally impose and that the State of California can ethically apply,” he added.

MICHAEL RUIZ: CALIFORNIA ATTORNEYS REVOLUTE AFTER NEWSOM ORDERES STATE’S WORST KILLERS OUT OF DEATH COUD

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a state Democratic Party event at the King’s Grant Clubhouse in Summerville, South Carolina, September 3, 2026. Newsom is visiting the state to rally Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections. South Carolina is the first primary state to participate in the 2028 presidential election. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Newsom’s announcement does not automatically remove all inmates from death row. State law would require Supreme Court approval to commute the sentences of inmates with numerous felony convictions. This includes hundreds of inmates currently on death row.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.

California is home to some of the most notorious child murderers and serial killers, including the following 10:

Richard Allen Davis

In 1993, Richard Allen Davis broke into a Petaluma residence and kidnapped 12-year-old Polly Ann Klaas, who was having a sleepover at her home with two friends. Davis strangled Polly and left her body in a remote area of ​​Cloverdale.

Richard Allen Davis, currently imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison, was sentenced to death for kidnapping Polly Klaas at a slumber party at knifepoint and then strangling her. (Klaas Children)

In 1996, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge sentenced Davis to death. His prior crimes contributed to the passage of California’s “three strikes” law.

Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, later founded the nonprofit KlassKids Foundation, which operated for 30 years and helped find millions of missing children.

The Alphabet Killer

Between 1977 and 1994, Joseph Naso killed at least four women in Contra Costa, Marin and Yuba counties. He became known as the “Alphabet Killer” after choosing women who had the same letters in their first and last names.

Indiana, Florida and Alabama hold rare triple execution day in the United States

Joseph Naso listens to proceedings during his arraignment in Marin County Superior Court in San Rafael, Calif., Wednesday, April 13, 2011. (MediaNews Group/Marin Independent Journal via Getty Images)

In 2013, a Marin County Superior Court judge sentenced Naso to death.

The Yosemite Serial Killer

In February 1999, Cary Stayner killed four people near Yosemite National Park.

Stayner, a handyman from nearby Cedar Lodge, murdered 42-year-old Carole Sund. He also murdered and sexually assaulted his daughter Juli, 15, and killed a family friend, Silvina Pelosso, 16.

A few months later, he beheaded a 26-year-old nature guide identified as Joie Armstrong.

MULTIPLE DEATH SENTENCES IN DIFFERENT STATES SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT WITHIN 24 HOURS: “NOT VERY COMMON”

Motel handyman Cary Stayner is shown in a July 29, 1999 photo. He was charged Oct. 20, 1999, with capital murder in the killings of three Yosemite tourists. He was also linked to a fourth murder. (California Department of Corrections)

In 2002, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge sentenced Stayner to death for the murders of Sund and the teenage girls. He was already serving a life sentence for Armstrong’s murder.

Stayner first came to prominence as the older brother of Steven Stayner, who escaped a 1972 kidnapping in 1980.

“THRILL KILLER” AND DESERT EXECUTIONER — MEET THE DOZENS OF DEM AG CRIMINALS SUPPORTED FOR SPEAK LIMITED: “NO BRAINER”

The South Side Killer

Between 1987 and 1998, Chester Turner raped and murdered low-income women in South Los Angeles, often dumping their bodies in dark alleys or vacant lots.

Authorities arrested Turner in 2003, following a DNA database matching him to the victims. He became known as the “Southside Slayer” after targeting women in the South Figueroa Street corridor between Gage Avenue and 108th Street in Los Angeles County.

FLORIDA PUTS TO DEATH 77-YEAR-OLD MAN FOR MURDER OF CONPUSTER AS STATE CLOSES ON EXECUTION CASE

Chester Turner appears on the first day of his trial in Los Angeles on April 3, 2007. (Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

In 2007, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Turner to death for the murders of 10 women. In 2014, he was again sentenced to death for the murders of four other women.

Christophe Cheary

In 2011, Christopher Cheary murdered, raped and tortured Sophia Acosta, identified as his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter. The incident happened while he was babysitting Sophia and her sister at a flat in Exeter.

The child’s mother, who has not been charged in the case, reported the crime after finding Sophia unconscious with a head injury. Medical staff later said they discovered internal trauma in the victim, including signs of sexual torture.

Christopher Cheary was convicted of murdering 3-year-old Sophia Acosta in 2011. (Tulare County Prosecutor’s Office)

Following a 2016 conviction, a Tulare County Superior Court judge sentenced Cheary to death in 2017.

The Scorecard Killer

Between 1971 and 1983, Randy Kraft raped, tortured and killed at least 16 hitchhikers and young men in Southern California, although authorities estimate he murdered more than 60 people.

He became known as the “Scorecard Killer” after investigators found a scorecard in his vehicle, listing victims with the locations of bodies written in code. Kraft’s killing spree ended in 1983, when California Highway Patrol officers stopped him and found Marine Terry Lee Gambrelin deceased in his vehicle, in the front passenger seat.

Photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “Randy Steven Kraft, left in 1983, just in June 2007, probably California’s most prolific serial killer, is believed to have killed as many as 65 young men in Oregon, Michigan and California during a 13-year period that ended in 1983. He was sentenced to death after a trial that lasted nearly a year. His killing spree ended when he was arrested for being suspected of drunk driving in 1981 with a Marine dead in his Toyota. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images)

Authorities linked 43 victims to coded handwriting on the scorecard, but chose to charge Kraft with 16, to reduce the burden of proof.

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X

In 1989, an Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced Kraft to death.

Isauro Aguirre

In 2013, Isauro Aguirre and his girlfriend Pearl Fernandez killed 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez after torturing him for eight months at a Palmdale residence.

Part of the torture consisted of depriving Gabriel of food, beating him, forcing him to eat cat feces, and locking him alone in a cupboard with a sock stuffed into his mouth.

Isauro Aguirre will appear in Lancaster Superior Court on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. He was later convicted and sentenced to death for the torture and murder of his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son, Gabriel Fernandez. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

SUBSCRIBE TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS

In 2018, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Aguirre to death, while Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FOX TRUE CRIME HUB

Charles Ng

Between 1983 and 1985, Charles kidnapped, tortured and murdered at least 11 people. The murders took place in a remote cabin known as “The Castle” in Calaveras County.

Convicted murderer Charles Ng appears in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, where a jury recommended he be put to death for the 1984 killings of 11 people in Northern California. (Al Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

SEND US A TIP

In 1989, an Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced Ng to death. Leonard Lake, a co-conspirator who committed the crimes with Ng, committed suicide during a confrontation with police in 1985.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE?

The trailside killer

Between 1980 and 1981, David Carpenter, also known as the “Trailside Killer,” raped and murdered at least seven hikers in Marin County and Santa Cruz.

Public Defender Frank Cox, left, at the defense table with David Carpenter, in San Rafael, Calif., December 1984. (MediaNews Group/Marin Independent Journal via Getty Images)

LISTEN TO THE NEW PODCAST “CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO”

In 1984, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Carpenter to death for the Santa Cruz murders. In 1988, a San Diego County Superior Court judge sentenced him to death for the Marin County crimes.

RECEIVE THE LATEST NEWS BY EMAIL

Sweetheart Rhoades

Cherie Rhoades, former leader of a small Indian tribe in Northern California, shot four people and attempted to kill two others during a tribal meeting following her expulsion in 2014.

Cherie Louise Rhoades is seen in an undated booking photo released by the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office in Alturas, California. (REUTERS/Modoc County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via Reuters)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

She was sentenced to death in 2017.