Mother of slain Sacramento police officer speaks out against commutation of California death sentences

Slain Sacramento police officer Tara O'Sullivan's mother is speaking out against Governor Gavin Newsom's commutation of all death sentences in California — which includes her daughter's killer.

"He killed my daughter," Kelley O'Sullivan, Tara's mother, said. "The way he did it, the things he said to her as she lay there dying, I'd sell tickets to that execution."

Her daughter was killed in the line of duty on a domestic violence call in 2019 by Adel Ramos, who was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death.  

"The shock and the rage? It's rage — it's beyond anger," she said.  

Governor Newsom announced that he was commuting all death sentences in the state in a public letter earlier this month.

"I deeply respect the views of those victims who will strongly disagree with my decision, including some families of victims who have suffered the worst possible loss," part of the letter read.   

CBS News Sacramento asked her if the family had been contacted by the governor's office about the decision before it was publicly announced. 

O'Sullivan said the family was not notified and had no idea Ramos was going to have his sentence commuted.

"No, he's not," O'Sullivan said when asked if she believed that the governor was talking to her in the letter. "He knows how to get ahold of me. He knows exactly where I am. He's talking to everyone else who's going to vote for him to be president someday. He's not talking to us."

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said the commutation undermines the justice system California voters have approved. 

"This was a blanket commutation without any consideration to the individual facts of the cases," Ho said. 

Natasha Minsker is the Director of the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition — an organization pushing to end the death penalty all together. 

Minsker said that no executions have been carried out in the state in over 20 years.  

"It does not help victims heal, and it does not deliver on the promises," Minsker said.  

For O'Sullivan, forever grieving her daughter's loss, her heart is breaking — again. 

"We all miss her so much," O'Sullivan said. "Every single moment, and that's the hard part too, because this guy gets to walk around and go prison shopping."