Over eight years ago, Victoria Hurd watched as the police department wheeled the body bags of her parents out of their Davis home.
Davis teenager Daniel Marsh was just shy of his sixteenth birthday when he invaded the home of Hurd’s parents, Oliver “Chip” Northup, 87, and Claudia Maupin, 76 and murdered the sleeping couple on April 14, 2013. He stabbed each victim over 60 times.
The events that came next were a whirlwind of trials for the families of Northup and Maupin.
On Friday, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office held a press conference to announce Hear Us Yolo, a coalition of survivors and victims of violent crime who have banded together to lend a voice to victims.
Hurd and her daughter, Sarah Rice, were among the speakers who talked at length about their personal experiences after the murders of Northup and Maudin. They are only two examples of victims of violent crime that led to the creation of the network.
“Hear Us Yolo is a survivor-led network formed in collaboration with Crime Victims United of California and the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office,” said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig. “Hear Us Yolo is a group of survivors of crime who are committed to making sure the voices of victims are heard loudly and clearly by the public, by our communities and by policy makers here in Yolo County and at the state capitol.”
Hear Us Yolo’s main goal is to provide education and outreach to the community and assist victims in finding their path to becoming survivors.
Both Hurd and Rice also spoke about the implications of SB 1391 as it pertains to the upcoming appeals case for Marsh. SB 1391 is a blanket law that prohibits any juvenile under the age of 16 to be tried or sentenced as an adult, no matter the severity of the crime.
Marsh, now 24, was sentenced to 52 years to life at his initial hearing. Under SB 1391, Marsh has a chance to be released next year when he reaches the age of 25 if the judge decides his case aligns with the law. If the judge decides to keep Marsh in prison, a hearing must take place every two years to extend the sentence.
“It falls on us, the responsibility falls on us, the victims, to keep a psychopath in jail,” Rice said. “Think about the resources needed for the DA, our prosecutors every two years.”
Marsh was last in court in 2018 due to Proposition 57 in the form of a fitness hearing. Prop 57 requires judges to determine whether juveniles may be prosecuted as adults. Yolo County Judge Samuel McAdam ultimately reaffirmed the original sentence.
Before the fitness hearing began, however, SB 1391 was written but it wasn’t signed into law yet, Rice said. This led to Marsh appealing that the law should apply retroactively to him.
“Ultimately, they are ruling on finality,” Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambor explained during Friday’s press conference. “Was it final at the time SB 1391 went into effect? They are really not looking at the facts of the case but was it final procedurally and if it was final, it does not apply to him. If they find it was not final, he can only be held until his twenty-fifth birthday.”
The families of Northup and Maupin also launched a social media campaign to bring awareness to SB 1391. Rice started a website called The Victims Project in an effort to stop Marsh’s release and amend SB 1391 to include exceptions.
“Our judicial system does not offer justice,” Rice said. “It does not allow us to heal and it does not allow for closure. My family is exhausted. We have been fighting for over eight years.”
Marsh’s hearing will take place at the Third District Court of Appeals in Sacramento on Aug. 18 at 2 p.m.
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