Guest Column: Still Fighting for Justice

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Michel and Ellen Shane

Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn.

These words, or something like this, were said to us as an excuse for murdering my daughter Emily. 

Now, inmate number AL8228 is up for a parole hearing on Nov. 2, 2021, 11 years after snuffing Emily’s life away. 

AL 8228 was convicted of second-degree murder, sentenced to 15 years to life—my precious daughter only spent 13 years living her life—and inmate AL8228 being 26 when convicted, is 37 or 38 with the ability to live his whole life ahead of him. Is this the justice we deserve?

AL8228 has never shown any remorse; his act of aiming his car at a girl—or maybe, he thought, a woman—and killing, wantonly and willfully, and trying to play the system for two years to get away with murder, is horrific.

Think of this for a moment: Your child has been ripped away from your life. Not only do you grieve the loss, but also for the next 24 months, you can’t figure out how to live with this hole in your heart. You spend that whole time reliving the events, which dig deeper and deeper into your soul. The pain, the anguish and the visual images repeated and repeated; it’s torture. 

Then add all the people Emily touched who knew her. Her schoolmates now experience death first hand at a young age. It is not just them; it’s friends, her sisters, her uncle, her cousins, and on and on. When you murder one person, it’s a ripple, not a singular action. 

I’m not a vindictive person; if there was remorse, if this was a singular incident, an accident, a breakdown, I may be able to forgive—”may” is the critical component. 

I can’t. This man ruined and changed so many lives. For him to be carefree and forgiven of his crime of snatching a young girl’s life because he was having a bad day, in my books, is unforgivable. Let inmate AL8228 spend at least 40 more years in prison. If he needs to be released, he must be an older man, not in his prime.

But we live in extraordinary times, and everyone is all about being correct and rights and “wokeness.” Especially now, with District Attorney George Gascón in charge—he is about the prisoners, opening the prison doors and getting them out of the system, back on the streets where they can continue to wreak havoc. 

I’m not talking about petty thieves; these are murderers, real criminals. I have spoken to deputy DAs, and they are ready to resign. They work to put someone away, and he does the opposite. It makes my stomach turn. 

Mr. Gascón has made it impossible for the victims to see the prisoner’s behavior information while incarcerated, so you can see for yourself if he has been rehabilitated. All other counties and cities make this available, but not here. We will only find out at the hearing. 

We are so hung up with what is right for others that the victims are now punished.  

Society around us is collapsing and we are moving to a new reality of anarchy. 

If you would like justice served or have been touched by this murder of my little girl, Emily, who was all of 13 with her whole life ahead of her, please write. You need to explain why AL8228 should not be released. Here is the info:

Please send to: BPH.CorrespondenceUnit@cdcr.ca.gov

Your statement must identify the inmate’s name: Sina Khankhanian

The inmate’s CDCR number must be provided: Inmate AL8228

The date of the hearing must be provided: Parole Hearing Nov. 2, 2021

Your email must be sent and received by Oct. 15 to be considered!

I thank you and pray that none of you ever has to walk in my shoes.