Man Who Brutally Killed A Woman Fifty Years Ago Walks Free— Furious California DA Says Victim ‘Deserved Better’

Alberto Tamez Jr., 75, was released from prison, and a California District Attorney is not happy with that decision. Tamez Jr. started serving his life sentence in 1974 for the rape and murder of Genevieve Adaline Moreno.

He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, and in December 2025, his parole request was finally granted. However, San Luis Obispo County DA Dan Dow is unhappy with Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to grant Tamez Jr. parole.

The DA’s office has shown resistance to the release and fought against it. In an official statement, Dow has said that the governor’s decision to let Tamez Jr. walk out of prison was a “painful outcome.”

In the statement, Dow said, “I am deeply troubled that our criminal and victim justice system has reached a result where the man who brutally murdered Genevieve Moreno over fifty years ago will now walk free.”

“My office fought this outcome at every stage—opposing his attempt to vacate his conviction, and making clear to the courts that Alberto Tamez, Jr. was not a peripheral figure or a legal technicality. He was the killer. He admitted it. The evidence was overwhelming,” he added.

The DA said, “Genevieve Moreno deserved better. To see her killer released is a painful outcome that this office did not support and did not accept without a fight. To all who knew and loved Genevieve Adaline Moreno — I want you to know that this office has stood by her memory and will continue to do so.”

His statement continued, “What happened to Genevieve was a horrific, senseless act of violence. She was an innocent woman doing her job, and she was robbed of her life, her dignity, and her future by a man who showed her no mercy. No amount of time erases that truth.”

Dow added, “We are deeply disappointed that the Board of Parole Hearings granted parole, and that the Governor chose to take no action to reverse that decision. We will remain vigilant in protecting the people of San Luis Obispo County.”

Tamez Jr. confessed to raping and beating Moreno to death and later pleaded no contest to the first-degree murder charge.

In a statement to The California Post, Dow criticized Newsom’s policy. He said, “I think the right thing would be to stop letting violent criminals out of our prisons just to satisfy [Newsom's] policy desire to empty prisons.”

The DA added, “I can’t change the system he created without letting voters know how vulnerable they are by letting out dangerous criminals to empty prisons. I think the governor should not be letting everyone out, but he’s made no bones about it.”