Resentencing denied for couple convicted in 3-year-old's murder
Sara Krueger and her boyfriend, Ryan Warner were convicted of killing her 3-year-old daughter Kayleigh Slusher in their Napa apartment.
NAPA, Calif. - Convicted killers Sara Krueger and Ryan Warner were denied resentencing in the murder of 3-year-old Kayleigh Slusher.
Krueger, 34, and Warner, 36, were convicted of first-degree murder of Kayleigh and assault on a child causing death in 2014.
Kayleigh was found dead in her apartment in east Napa on Feb. 1, 2014, covered in bruises after being "badly beaten and tortured," officials said. Krueger and Warner were found and arrested at the El Cerrito BART station. The two were dating each other at the time of the murder.
"The court's decision to deny resentencing for her murderers reaffirms the People’s desire for justice and to ensure that those responsible for
such heinous acts remain accountable," said Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said.
The judge presiding over the case denied their resentencing request in separate hearings Friday and the pair had their 25 years to life sentences upheld.
Initially, they were both sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, but their sentences were reduced in 2021 after the Court of Appeals reversed the juries' findings on the special circumstance of torture, saying there wasn't sufficient evidence that the couple intended to kill the toddler.
Kayleigh Slusher, 3-year-old killed by her mother Sara Krueger and her boyfriend, Ryan Warner in their Napa apartment.
They were tried separately and both were found guilty.
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Appeals court orders resentencing in torture murder of Kayleigh Slusher
A state appeals court this week ordered the re-sentencing of Sara Lynn Krueger and Ryan Scott Warner, who were convicted for the 2014 murder, with special circumstances of torture, of Krueger's 3-year-old daughter Kayleigh Slusher.
Warner and Krueger filed petitions to be resentenced after a new California law in 2019 said a person can only be convicted of murder only if they actually killed the person, helped in the killing with the intent to kill, or were a major participant in a felony, and acted with reckless indifference to human life.
While the law can apply retroactively, the deputy district attorney argued neither Krueger nor Warner met their burden to show they qualified under the new statute.
"Krueger and Warner were both major participants in Kayleigh’s death and given their culpability in the murder, neither of them is the type of defendant that the State Legislature intended for this law to apply," Deputy District Attorney Kecia Lind said.
Warner is serving his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo and will be eligible for parole in April 2029. Krueger is serving her sentence at the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla and will be eligible for parole in 2031.