Russell

BACKGROUND

In 2013, DeAvila raped and murdered his grandmother Racheal Russell. The following year, he was convicted of these crimes and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Petitioners are the son and daughter of Racheal Russell, the victim; and petitioner Sandra Reece is also DeAvila’s mother. After the murder, petitioners brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the State of California, the CDCR, and the County of San Joaquin, alleging negligence in the failure to warn of DeAvila’s release from state custody before the murder and the failure to affix an ankle bracelet GPS monitoring device before his release. The first amended complaint alleged that DeAvila had a lengthy criminal history of sex crimes, drugs, and violence, and was on parole at the time of the murder. One requirement of his parole was that he wear a GPS tracking device around his ankle. Due to a sex crime conviction, DeAvila was not allowed to go near a school; his grandmother’s house was near a school. The year before the murder, the police arrested DeAvila 16 times for violations of parole or other criminal activity; each time they released him. The complaint alleged that both the state parole officers…