Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is defending herself against harsh criticism that she isn’t doing enough to ensure that justice is served in the murder of 2-year-old Jasper Wu.
The boy died in the back seat of his family’s vehicle when a stray bullet struck and killed him during a freeway shooting in Oakland, California in 2021.
CBS Bay Area reports that Price released a videotaped statement on Twitter calling the push back against her racist.
“This particular tragedy is being used by people with a political agenda to divide our diverse community,” she said. “The kind of racist messages that my office has received and directed at me personally is unprecedented. Our diversity is our strength. Those who claim that race has somehow influenced the prosecution of this case are wrong and they are making a painful situation more painful for the family and our community.”
However, the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association (NAPIPA) wrote a letter to Price demanding that she apologize for what it called a “condescending and divisive” email addressed to the “Chinese communities,” Law and Crime reported.
An internal memo obtained by ABC7 News indicated Price wants to “bring balance back to sentencing and reduce recidivism” by banning prosecutors from filing sentencing enhancements.
Jasper’s parents fear their sons killer will get off on a lighter sentence.
“If that happens, if the new DA, that’s the direction she goes lowering the sentencing what kind of message are we sending to the public,” said An Wu to ABC7 News reporter Dion Lim.
In her email, according to NBC Bay Area, price wrote “While the case is under review, certain vocal members of the local Chinese community and the media have misled the public about the process. We have not made any decisions about this particular case.”
Price elaborated on her email on Twitter.
“While I can’t talk about the details of this case, I want to clear the record. I assured the parents of Jasper Wu that the men we believe are responsible for his death are charged with very serious and they will be held accountable. We have not made any decisions about what charges to pursue or what not to pursue. We are still reviewing the case.”
Trevor Green, 22; Ivory Bivins, 24; and Johnny Jackson, 28, of Richmond all face murder charges.
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