Gov. Jerry Brown reverses parole decision

SACRAMENTO, April 13 (UPI) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown says he has reversed a state Board of Parole Hearings decision granting parole to a 49-year-old convicted child killer.

In a letter to the board rejecting the parole of Christopher Fowler, Brown said, "The utter inhumanity of Mr. Fowler's crime coupled with his inability or unwillingness to understand, own, or achieve some credible level of insight tells me that there is a substantial risk of danger to the public were he to be released from prison."

Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig praised the decision to keep Fowler behind bars.

"Our community cannot risk having a man who savagely killed a baby for no apparent reason living back among us," Reisig said in a statement.

Fowler had been scheduled to be paroled to Yolo County, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

Fowler was convicted of killing 22-month-old Aaron Miller in November 1983 while watching the child for his girlfriend, Aaron's mother.

Fowler, upset that the child would not stop crying while Fowler attempted to sleep, entered Aaron's room and struck him in the head, shook him, and threw him to the floor in front of his 3-year-old sister.

A Yolo Superior Court judge sentenced Fowler to 15 years to life in prison for the killing.

On Nov. 8, the Board of Parole Hearings found Fowler suitable for parole and scheduled a tentative release date.