A notorious inmate, John Jacobson Jr., also known as Skylar Deleon, was sentenced to death in 2009 for the brutal murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, a couple he lured onto their boat off the California coast. Jacobson’s motive for the heinous crime was to finance a sex change surgery, a goal he has now achieved with a taxpayer-funded procedure.
The 2005 murder was a chilling act of violence, in which Jacobson tied the couple to the anchor of their boat and threw them overboard. In an interview with ABC News, Jacobson confessed to the crime, stating that his primary motivation was to obtain the surgery.
Fourteen years after his sentencing, Jacobson finally underwent the surgery at the expense of taxpayers, thanks to policies implemented by Kamala Harris during her tenure as California attorney general. According to a letter he sent to the Washington Free Beacon, Jacobson received the surgery on April 5, 2023, as part of the state’s commitment to providing medical care to inmates.
The news of Jacobson’s surgery has sparked outrage among the family members of his victims, who are struggling to come to terms with the fact that the man responsible for their loved ones’ deaths is now receiving benefits at the expense of taxpayers.
In a 2019 campaign questionnaire, Harris expressed her support for taxpayer-funded sex change surgeries for migrants in ICE detention, and later told the American Civil Liberties Union that transgender inmates should receive necessary medical care, including surgical care.
Harris’s stance on the issue predates the 2015 case of Jeffrey Bryan Norsworthy, a convicted murderer who sought sex-change surgery while incarcerated. Initially, Harris blocked a lawsuit brought by Norsworthy, arguing that the surgery was not medically necessary. However, after a district judge ruled against California, Harris did not appeal the decision, allowing Norsworthy’s parole.
The family members of Thomas and Jackie Hawks are now left to grapple with the injustice of their loved ones’ deaths being used to justify the provision of benefits to a convicted murderer. “I don’t know what right [Harris] had to decide that he gets surgeries now,” said Jackie Hawks’ mother. “He killed people, took people’s lives. Why should they get all these benefits?” The family’s outrage is a stark reminder of the complexities of the justice system and the need for reform.
