District Attorney Dan Dow responds to parole board decision to grant parole despite objections

SAN LUIS OBISPO — On Thursday, Nov. 18, a two-person panel of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Parole Board granted parole to Jason Adam Greenwell, 32, one of five defendants convicted in the September 2010 murder of 15-year-old Dystiny Myers in Nipomo.

Greenwell and his crime partners bound and savagely beat young Dystiny, then buried her in a shallow grave near Santa Margarita Lake. Before they fled, they set a fire. Dystiny’s bound and partially burned body was later discovered in the grave.

This was Greenwell’s first parole hearing since his conviction. Greenwell, 20 at the time of the crime, has been disciplinary free while in prison.

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Members of Dystiny’s family attended the parole hearing by video and strongly objected to his parole. A representative of the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office attended the hearing and voiced a forceful objection to the release of Greenwell based on the vicious nature of the crime and continued danger to the community should he be released.

“I strongly disagree with the Parole Board’s decision to release Mr. Greenwell into our community after serving only 11 years for such a shocking crime” said District Attorney Dan Dow. “My office will aggressively seek review and repeal of the Parole Board’s decision in this case.”

In 2013 Greenwell pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison. At the time of his sentence individuals convicted of murder received no “good time” credits. Meaning, Greenwell was required to serve everyday of 15 years prior to even being considered for parole. In 2016 Proposition 57 was passed which provides individuals convicted of violent crimes, such a murder, up to a 1/3 or 33 percent reduction in their sentence. As a result Greenwell was granted paroled after serving only 11 years for his part in the murder.

Three of the murderers, Ty Michael Hill, Frank Jacob York, and Rhonda Wisto, are serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole. A fourth, Cody Miller, took his own life while in prison in June 2016.

The District Attorney will seek a review and reversal of the Parole Board’s decision directly to Governor Gavin Newsom.