Kern DA denounces recommendation to release inmate who killed infant in 1999

The California Board of Parole recommended the parole and release of Michael Panella, an inmate serving a life sentence for the torture and murder of an infant, according to Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer.

During the week leading up to baby Johnathan’s death on Nov. 27, 1999, Panella abused the baby while ingesting methamphetamine, the DA’s office said in a news release. Johnathan was 20 months old when he died. The baby had more than 40 bruises on his abdomen and internal bleeding. Johnathan bled to death over five to eight hours and his bowel was twisted and torn in three locations, the DA’s office said in a news release.

When the mother discovered that her baby was cold and unresponsive, she begged

Panella for help. Panella refused, said the DA’s office in a news release.

When first responders arrived at the scene, Panella showed “little to no emotion.” Before Panella was convicted, other inmates overheard him say “I killed that little bastard” and that he was going to get away with murder “just like O.J. Simpson,” according to the DA’s office in a news release.

Panella has deflected blame for Johnathan’s death to the baby’s mother and the baby’s brother. Panella referred to Johnathan’s 4- or 5-year-old brother at the time as “a useless bowl of crap,” according to the DA’s news release.

Panella was convicted of first-degree murder by torture in 2000 and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He also was found guilty of assaulting a child under 8 years old, according to the DA’s office in a news release.

The Parole Board’s recommendation comes before Panella has served his minimum 25-year sentence. In 2020, the California Legislature passed amendments to the elderly parole statute in Assembly Bill 3234, signed into law by the governor. AB 3234 reduced requirements for elderly parole; now, a person must be 50 years or older and serve at least 20 years of their sentence to be considered for parole, the DA’s office said.

Panella was 29 years old when he committed the murder. He became eligible for parole in 2021 because he was 50 by November 2020 and served 20 years of his sentence, said the DA’s office in a news release.

“The state Legislature and the Board of Parole have lost their sense of justice by respectively passing laws that allow for, and ultimately recommending the early release, of a man who murdered and tortured an infant,” Zimmer said in a news release. “State laws now allow parole of child murderers on the basis of ‘elderly parole’ before they even qualify for the senior discount at McDonald’s or to draw Social Security. Only the governor has the authority to stop the injustice of Panella’s early release, and we will make every effort to convince the governor that justice is not served, nor public safety protected, by the early release of a child torturer and murderer.”

The state Legislature and the Board of Parole have lost their sense of justice.”

— Kern County DA Cynthia Zimmer