Posted on December 30, 2021

Father of Six-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead in San Francisco Slams DA Chesa Boudin

James Gordon, Daily Mail, December 22, 2021

The dad of a six-year-old boy who was shot dead is speaking out against San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin after it emerged one of his son’s killers is likely to be in jail for less time than his little boy was alive.

Jason Young’s son, Jace, was killed on July 4, 2020, having been caught in gunfire while the pair were outside to watch a firework show in the city’s Bayview District.

Jace was caught in crossfire and despite being rushed to hospital did not survive the shooting.

Two gunmen were quickly identified: 18-year-old James Harbor and 17-year-old Deshaune Lumpkin, who was apprehended a year later.

But a campaign promise for all criminals under 18 to be tried as juveniles may mean one of the killers will spend less than a decade in jail while the other may be behind bars for most of his life.

‘I am so angry with Chesa Boudin right now. He makes San Francisco’s criminal justice system a complete joke,’ Jason Young told Fox News.

‘The killer of my six-year-old son will likely serve less time than the age of my son because of Chesa’s campaign promise. Boudin’s campaign promises do not protect San Franciscans and ensure justice – they only allow criminals, and in this case, murderers, to return to the community.

Lumpkin, who is now 18, was found guilty on Monday of the little boy’s killing.

After a two-week hearing in juvenile court he was found guilty of four of the six counts against him. However, because he was tried as a juvenile he can only be sent to jail for a maximum of eight years until he is 25.

Harbor, on the other hand, who was an adult at the time of the killing faces a potential sentence of 50 years to life for Young’s tragic death.

It has led to Jace’s father, Jason, to speak out over the absurdity of the likely disparate penalties for his son’s killers.

Young says the family is ‘devastated’ noting that one of Boudin’s key campaign promises was to never allow those who are under 18 to be tried as an adult, no matter how horrific the crime.

‘Some wonder why the black community doesn’t have faith in the justice system,’ Jason Young also told Fox.

‘We cannot help but feel that if this had happened to a white child in another neighborhood, we would not be having this discussion; we would not have this result from a dismissive, out-of-touch district attorney. At the very least there would be some real accountability in Jace’s case.’

‘As the cycle of violence continues in San Francisco, our family and everyone else affected by this senseless crime and lack of accountability is traumatized. To be a victim of crime in San Francisco is a complete nightmare under District Attorney Boudin.

‘This is just another example of how he is failing our community and the city of San Francisco. This isn’t justice for Jace, and this isn’t what our city deserves either. No family should ever go through what we are going through,’ he added.

A spokeswoman for Boudin responded to Young’s statement although did not address the likely difference in penalties the two killers will likely receive.

‘Our heart breaks for the Young family, whom our Victim Services Division has continued to support,’ a spokeswoman for Boudin, Rachel Marshall, said in a statement.

‘We secured a guilty verdict yesterday in juvenile court against one defendant, and we are awaiting trial to start for the adult, whom we are prosecuting for murder as well. We are committed to holding accountable those responsible for this tragic crime.’

Boudin, 41, entered the district attorney’s race back then as an underdog and won by fewer than 3,000 votes.

Voters were captivated by his life story.

When he was just 1 year old in 1981, his parents, who were members of the far-left Weather Underground, dropped him off with a babysitter and took part in an armored car robbery in upstate New York that left two police officers and a security guard dead.

His mother, Kathy Boudin, served 22 years behind bars and his father, David Gilbert, was jailed for life – until outgoing NY Governor Andrew Cuomo commuted his sentence for murder in August.

They didn’t fire shots that day and the victims were killed by the Black Liberation Army.

Chesa was cared for by members of a radical left-wing group and says his experiences of visiting his parents in jail galvanized his progressive views on law and order.

But since he entered office, his opponents say, crime is on the rise and more criminals are going free.

Boudin is now facing his second recall effort in his short tenure, with organizers hoping to oust him submitting 83,000 signatures to election officials to force him into a recall election next June.

In October, San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya said the city is crippled with open-air drug markets and homelessness, coupled with upticks in blatant shoplifting, residential and commercial burglaries, shooting and other violent crimes.

‘Police are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys in the mind of a progressive’ like Boudin, Montoya said, adding: ‘Chesa’s good at the blame game. We’re going to call him Mr. Deflector because he’s always pointing the finger left or right and never at the man in the mirror.’

And in September San Francisco Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan took the unusual step of criticizing Boudin’s office from the bench for ‘constant turnover’ and neglecting ‘the fundamentals of competent, professional prosecution.’

‘I cannot express in any more certain terms my disapproval of the manner in which the office of the district attorney is being managed,’ Chan said.

‘We simply cannot have the current levels of inadvertence, disorganization and expect there to be any public confidence in what we do here collectively.’

Yousuf, though, defended Boudin saying he ‘has made it his priority to promote public safety for the people of San Francisco.’

She also underscored his efforts to protect San Franciscans by ‘expanding services for crime victims, pursuing meaningful accountability to address the root causes of crime, including by fighting for public health solutions to prevent crime from occurring.’

And, she said, Boudin’s prosecution rates are similar, if not higher, than both his predecessor ‘as well as other district attorneys in surrounding counties.’

The office is also fighting back against the recall effort, with Boudin telling his supporters at a recent rally: ‘This has nothing to do with the facts or the real challenges our communities are facing.

‘This has everything to do with disrespecting the will of the people,’ he said, describing the recall campaign as being pushed by ‘dark money’ and the Republican Party.