Grieving Mother from California Blames Criminal Justice System for his Son’s Killers' Release

A grieving Southern California mother blames the criminal justice system as the killer of her son is scheduled to be released from prison. The woman’s 14-year-old son was shot and killed near the family’s residence in January, and one of the people convicted in her son’s killing is scheduled for release under California’s Proposition 57, backed by the governor.

The woman has been identified as Marie Gill, whose son, star football player Jeremy Rosales, also nicknamed “Tank,” was shot and killed in January near the family’s home in Victorville. According to reports by The Post, one of the alleged 16-year-old assailants in the killing of the 14-year-old victim will be released by the time he turns 25 under California’s Proposition 57.

California’s Proposition 57, also known as the “Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act,” was passed in 2016. The act increases parole opportunities for nonviolent offenders, allows sentence credits for rehabilitation, and requires judges, not prosecutors, to decide whether juveniles should be tried as adults. The act aims to reduce prison overcrowding by encouraging rehabilitation.

As a result of the act, an inmate serving a nonviolent sentence can be released earlier than planned if the inmate earns credits for completing a rehabilitation program. The act also ended the practice of prosecutors directly filing charges against juveniles in adult court, placing that authority with judges.

The act was backed by then-Lt. Gov. Newsom and signed into law in 2018 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. Proposition 57 aimed to reduce the prison population, in part, by eliminating the ability of local prosecutors to try juveniles as adults. Instead, prosecutors operating under the law must seek a hearing to change jurisdiction and prove that the accused cannot be rehabilitated in a juvenile correctional setting.

However, Gill, the mother of Tank, criticized Proposition 57, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has backed. Gill said, “That’s all, Newsome. It’s affecting u, the victims and their families.”

Gill and her son, the Oak Hill High School standout lineman, were lured to Mojave Vista Park after dinner at Victorville on the night of January 16th. It is a popular hangout spot for local kids located less than a mile from their house, which frequently hosts football practices, said Gill.

But for reasons that remain a mystery, that night, Jeromy was shot near the intersection of Glen Canyon Lane and Burwood Avenue in the residential area.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Deputies said they were called to the scene at about 8:21 pm. and found the 14-year-old alive but badly wounded. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died, the police said.