Gov. Newsom Rejects California Parole Board's Recommendation To Release Convicted Minister Killer

Pettis was 24 years old and a gang member when he shot Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Terrence Wenger, 31, and volunteer chaplain Bruce Bryan, 39, who was accompanying Wenger.

The incident occurred after Pettis was involved in a bar brawl. Instead of arresting him, Wenger chose to drive him home. Upon reaching his destination, Pettis assaulted Wenger, stole his firearm, and shot him. "They took him home instead of taking him to jail, and that’s the hardest part to understand," Floyd Bryan, the brother of the slain minister, told Fox News Digital. "They dropped him off a block from where he lived, and when he got out he hit the deputy, grabbed his gun and shot him in the head."

Pettis shot Wenger in the eye, causing him to collapse, but he survived. Pettis then turned the gun on Bryan, who attempted to flee. "He chased my brother, shot him in the back," Floyd Bryan recounted. "He had a vest on, so as he was on his knees trying to get up, he shot him again straight down between his shoulder there where there wasn’t a vest and killed him."

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In September, the Board of Parole in California granted Pettis, now 54, "youthful offender" parole at a hearing that did not involve any prosecutors, due to a standing order from District Attorney George Gascon. Gascon has prohibited members of his office from arguing against the release of murderers.

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However, Governor Newsom, in his written decision, highlighted Pettis's history of violence and substance abuse, despite his sobriety and good behavior in prison. "When considered as a whole, I find the evidence shows that he currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time," Newsom wrote. "Therefore, I reverse the decision to parole Mr. Pettis."

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Under his sentence, Pettis should not have been eligible for parole for another 11 years. However, state laws have been revised, increasing the age of "youth offender" status several times over the past few decades, from 18 to 23 and now 26. Pettis was 24 at the time of the shooting, and the status has been applied retroactively, according to Floyd Bryan.

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The decision to grant parole sparked outrage, with Gascon's own deputies condemning the parole board. Nathan Hochman, one of Gascon's challengers in the upcoming election, wrote a letter to Newsom urging him to overturn the decision. "Pettis could have faced the death penalty — or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole — had Deputy Wenger died in the shooting, as many victims do when they are shot in the head," Hochman wrote. "To grant parole would be rewarding Pettis for the good fortune that the man he shot in the head happened to survive."

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Wenger continued to serve on the force for several years before retiring. Bryan, known as the "Chaplain of the Hood" for his work with youthful offenders, ran a nonprofit halfway house for troubled juveniles out of his home. He offered them jobs at a gardening business and helped them get back into school or find new careers. At the time of his murder, he was engaged to be married.

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Pettis will have another opportunity to appear before the parole board in 18 months, still well before his initial sentence would have made him eligible for parole. Under California rules, the governor has the final say over parole decisions. Newsom has yet to make a decision on the pending release of Patrick Goodman, a child killer from San Francisco who beat his girlfriend's 3-year-old son to death in 2000. Despite the presence of San Francisco prosecutors arguing against his release, the board decided he should go free.