‘Our stories are greater’: Grieving parents unite against Prop 57

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Families across the Central Valley who have lost children to violent crimes continue to push for changes to Proposition 57, now, one father from the group is adding his voice to the movement.

Stephen Quick’s son, Caleb, was shot and killed in a McDonald’s parking lot in Clovis. Quick says he never expected to find himself rallying for criminal justice reform.

“This shouldn’t be a movement,” Quick said. “This shouldn’t have to be a thing we have to do to fight for our kids.”

Prop 57, passed by voters in 2016, changed how juveniles are prosecuted. Families against Prop 57 say it makes it harder to hold teens accountable for violent crimes.

“If you’re 15 and younger, you are absolutely never going to be tried as an adult,” Quick said. “Doesn’t matter what you did. If you’re 16 and 17, there is a possibility, and that’s why you go through that two-to-three-year process of a transfer hearing.”

Quick says he and his son were close. The two worked out together, went to church together, and shared a close bond. Quick still treasures one assignment where Caleb wrote that his dad would be the person to help him back on track. “That he felt that way about me, it was heartwarming to remember him that way.”

Through their grief, Quick and other parents say they’ve built an “extended family” by leaning on each other.

“We have our own stories, but together our stories are greater,” Quick said. “We feel we can provide an impact to a change to Prop 57.”

The families are now planning their largest protest yet in Fresno on Oct. 11, hoping the demonstration will bring more attention to their cause and keep the memory of their children alive.