On September 28, 2022, Raul Higgins was sentenced for another three years in San Quentin Prison. The Parole Board finds Mr. Higgins still poses an unreasonable risk to public safety. The Parole board examines his history of violence and serial abuse, circumstances, behavior in prison and parole plans. They said at the time of the crime, he was a mature adult, exhibiting an extreme level of violence and stalking behavior. The commissioners considered the circumstances of the crime, controlling behavior, manipulation, and rage to multiple victims, and found prison program participation still deficient in dealing with these areas. A key aspect of his parole denial was his inability to understand the viciousness of the crime and that the prisoner has lack of insight which is a predictor of poor outcomes. In the commissioner’s own words, “we still do not know why the prisoner has not addressed this…” and “it was difficult to imagine a more brutal crime”.

This is now the family’s sixth parole hearing, the third of which is conducted via webcam due to COVID-19. Being forced to be face to face with our mothers murderer is indescribably painful, albeit necessary, to testify to the parole board about the havoc that this has wreaked upon our lives. Mr. Higgins is fighting every chance to get out. He has plans to live in the San Francisco Bay Area if he gets released. Only once before was he denied parole for 5 years after being denied for 3. This is a broken system for the victims of the utmost heinous of crimes. We hope you continue the fight with us. We hope that the more voices are heard from the community the more weight we have for the commissioners to take into account. Thank you for staying with us and having your voice heard. Together in numbers matters.