April 28, 1993. my husband Ross V. Elvey was murdered, leaving me alone in what should have been our happy retirement years. Instead, I still have to work, and have lost my home and all savings, and am barely scraping by. Our children have never fully recovered from this trauma.
Ross was closing his place of business when one juvenile (DM) came in the front door and distracted Ross while another juvenile (KK) came in the back door with a metal pipe. KK proceeded to beat Ross over the head with the metal pipe; they held him down on the floor and continued to beat him. They then stole the guns they had came for and stupidly ran out the front door where one of Ross’s customers (LB) was driving by.
LB jumped out of his truck and started to chase them. The 2 juveniles ran through the neighborhood stopping to ask many people to give them a ride home as a gang was chasing them. When LB could not catch them he went back to the shop and called 911. The Sheriff’s Department drove through the neighborhood and found a lady who had put them in her son’s car and had him drive them home. Knowing the color and type of car these two where in, they were caught within 45 minutes.
Ross was in a coma for 41 days before he passed away on June 7, 2007.
DM was 4 month short of 16 so he could not be tried as an adult. Their gang was called 187 Crips…DM’s street name was “NINE” as he could get 9mm hand guns for others. At 14 he supplied handguns to two other 14 year old juveniles who committed 2 murders. Maybe if something had been done to DM when he first started passing out guns, my husband may still be alive.
DM was in the Youth Authority until the day before he turned 25. I don’t think he ever learned a thing. I attended 8 yearly progress hearings for DM. KK was 2 months over 16 and was tried as an adult. His street name was 187 insane. The Prosecutor and Judge on the case were great. KK was found guilty in a day and a half trial of First Degree Murder with Special Circumstances and the Judge gave KK a LIFE WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE (LWOP) SENTENCE in September 1994.
Since then KK has tried to kill another inmate and received a 25 to life sentence for attempted murder. I hope that with his two sentences, he won’t ever be released.
It is hard to describe the pain, sorrow and troubles this brutal murder of our loved one has caused our family. Sit down and write a list of all the things you would lose if your SPOUSE is brutally murdered, what you and your family would go through. I still find new things everyday that I have lost and have to work though all because of two juveniles’ bad choices.
One example that we don’t think of, when married we file our tax return as married-joint return, when you lose that spouse, you go down to single, which means you now pay more in taxes unless you have small children. And he was our family breadwinner. It would take many pages to tell you what our family lost and goes through each and every day. It has been harder than anyone can ever know.
We must make sure that homicide victims survivors of juvenile killers have their voices heard across the country when it comes to discussing changes in juvenile sentences past and future.
Maggie Elvey and Family
See Maggie in a Fox News interview in California about SB 9 that could free her husband’s murderers.
