Friends and families of murder victims expressed outrage over President Joe Biden’s decision on Monday to commute the death sentences of 37 convicted killers. These individuals, found guilty of brutal crimes, including the murder of children, will now serve life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of facing the death penalty.
Among those deeply hurt by the decision is Kathleen Zellner, an attorney who represented Jerry Hobbs, a grieving father whose 8-year-old daughter Laura was horrifically murdered. Laura and her 9-year-old best friend, Krystal Tobias, were killed in Zion, Illinois, by Jorge Aviia-Torrez. Years later, Torrez also murdered Amanda Snell, a 20-year-old naval officer. Zellner called Biden’s move “cruel” and shared her frustration with the media.
“How could President Biden do this? He commuted the sentence of the man who not only killed my client’s daughter and her best friend but also took the life of another young woman,” Zellner said. Jerry Hobbs, Laura’s father, was initially wrongfully accused of killing his own daughter and spent five years in jail before DNA evidence revealed the truth: Torrez was the real perpetrator.
Zellner said the decision was made without consulting Hobbs or his family. “President Biden didn’t reach out to Mr. Hobbs or anyone in his family to ask their opinion before making this choice. It’s heartless and shows just how disconnected he is from ordinary people. There was no reason for this reckless decision—it feels like it was done for political purposes,” she said.
This isn’t the first time Biden’s clemency decisions have sparked backlash. Critics argue that commuting the sentences of criminals convicted of such heinous acts sends the wrong message, especially to the victims’ families who continue to grieve their unimaginable losses. For Jerry Hobbs and others like him, the pain of losing a loved one is now compounded by the frustration of seeing justice rewritten.
