Grieving Parents Stephen Quick & Samantha Baptista Push for Prop 57 Reform

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I remember I was back visiting my mom and dad
in Tennessee right there the last week of April, and
I was looking at the local news back home, and
I was like, what a young man was shot at
a McDonald's in Clovis. Horrible. His father's here, Stephen Quick.
Of course, Klob Quick was murdered back on April twenty third,
Stephen Man, Thank you for coming in. I would probably

(00:25):
still be curled up with whiskey at a motel six.
Just I don't even know if I could talk to
somebody after that, that kind of a loss. There are
some that might not have heard your story. First of all, welcome,
all right, thank you, thank for having me. Good to
have you here. Let's go back. Tell us that that night,
the phone call that came to your house. Is that
how you heard or did was it word of mouth?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
I got a text I texted in a meeting across town. Actually,
I was renewing my CCW over at firing Line, taking
my class and I got a text from my or
Kayla's youth crew leader said, hey, miss Quick, I just
heard about Caleb. Uh you know, he got shot, so sorry.

(01:08):
And I was about ready to take my test. Actually
to finalize the renewal. I just grabbed on my stuff
and left and high tailed it all the way across Herndon.
So I think I blew about six or seven red
lights trying to get to that McDonald's. And then, uh,
I was on my way over and I figured it

(01:28):
was long enough time. Somebody called me and said, you know,
he's on his way to Saint Agnes, so meet there.
So I high tailed it right over to Saint Agnes.
And and I, yeah, never got to see him again. Uh,
just because of the brutality of the crime and where
he was shot. You know. They person came up from

(01:49):
behind him as he was leaving, he was looking down
on his phone as he was walking, and put a
three fifty seven magnum the side of his head and
pulled the trigger. So coming from the back to the front.
So the doctors at Saint Agnes, they were great, they
were wonderful. However, didn't advise. They did advise not to

(02:09):
see him because of the wound where it was at,
so essentially it was not him anymore. So, but he
had died pretty much on the scene.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Let me ask you, I it's the worse. You know,
parents aren't supposed to bury their children, much less in
a scene where you can't even look, you know, the
doctors are saying, don't look. What what was sleep like afterwards?
How long did it take you? Did you would you
go to sleep, wake up and kind of have to
relive the shock again?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Absolutely, Yeah, I forget about it when you're asleep maybe
or have a dream or yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
For for months. I still I still can hardly sleep
to this day. I'll go three or four hours every
once in a while, maybe once a week, I'll get
about aid in. But I'm an engineer by trade, so
I'm trying to engineer in my head, try figure it out,
try to solution what happened, who was involved? And you

(03:05):
know why I went sideways, you know, trying to be
a detective on my own, trying to figure things out. So, yeah,
sleep is you know, that's from the middle of the night,
like I'm trying, Like I just have flashbacks of him
talking to me, Hey, dad, you know this is what
I'm doing tonight and just I'm hanging out with tonight
and it was always that Wednesday is at McDonald's. I

(03:28):
still have texts or voicemails from him years ago. Where's
dad going to McDonald's with the kids. That, Okay, I'll
be I'll be home at a good, good hour, just
make sure. And you know that was that. McDonald's was
where we hung out as a family. Lots of times
we'd ride our bikes there. McDonald's all the time, got
that save art there. It was just a essential point

(03:49):
for a lot of kids there. There's the Close Hills
youth group kids go there, there's the Cross City kids.
It's like a quarter while down the street the Well kids.
Every youth group kid goes there on a Wednesday night
or a Tuesday night, depending on when when the youth is,
but there's always a bunch of kids there. That night

(04:12):
that happened, there was thirty of his kid friends inside
the McDonald's and.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Looked really packed in there. Stephen, what what were the
dreams of kleb When did you see him being at
when he might be your age in the if he
had lived.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Oh, he would have been. Oh so he was already
set to He did two years in the Civil Air
Patrol here locally. He wanted to be a pilot and
Air Force he was already signed up to go. He
was supposed to ship out June third, So by this
time right now, he would have finished boot camp and
gone into his mos military occupational uh pretty much his job.

(04:46):
They call it uh avionyx mechanic. So he was going
to do that. Oh, he gets his bachelor's degree, and
once he gets his bachelor's he would be put in
for pilot school.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
It's been a rough, horrible time, but obviously you have
tapped into some good things. Because sitting next to you
is Samantha, Samantha Baptista. You would not have met each
other under the condition. She was a mother of Jacob
Munnos of Madera. I had three years of Spanish one
because my mouth could not correctly. Samantha, welcome in. Thank

(05:19):
you for being here. Yeah, get on real, that's okay,
Get up closer. Now you've gone through exactly what Steven
has gone through. Samantha, tell us about tell us about
your son Jacob.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Thank you for having me. You bet you My son Jacob,
he was thirteen years old. He attended again Sineta and
he was stabbed in his back, literally stabbed in his back.
Him and another friend was also stabbed. His friends survived.
My son didn't make it.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
Now, this is an event where there were adults. And
this is something that kids throughout the valley, throughout decades,
have gone through, and it's not anything that you would
think as a mother you would have to be worried
thirteen year old being at Actually that's a good place
you'd want.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Him to be adults and security. What happened His friends
were in a fight. There was a group of kids
that came and rushed rushed into them. There was I
think four of them with my son, and there was
a group of about seven that came to fight them.
So my son was to the side, and you know,
he saw his friends fighting and one of his friends

(06:25):
was getting beat up, so he decided to jump in
and help him, and he ended up getting stabbed in
his back while he was helping him.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
In the back. Yes, literally, how long did he survive
after that? Was he dead on the scene, No.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
He wasn't.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
He was actually there waiting when I mean the police
were standing around him. We were waiting for the ambulance
for a long time. I still never have gotten in
a response as to why a helicopter wasn't called.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
I believe he could have potentially made it.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
What month of last year, July July. So you've had
a year, Steven, you've had now it's five months here, Samantha,
from your five months into it until a year longer. Now,
has has life got any brighter? Like? What would you
tell Stephen to expect even a year after going through

(07:17):
something like this?

Speaker 3 (07:19):
You know, people say take it a day out of time,
but when you lose a child, it's more like taking
it an hour out of tight.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
I would think it would be such a dark hole
before this interviews, I can't relate. I don't know what
you guys are feeling. I have children. My children are alive,
I have grandchildren, real young, they're alive. I can imagine
that dark hole. I would think it would never leave me.
I would just hope, over time, with God's love that

(07:49):
maybe some of that hole could become a little bit brighter.
But it's a hole that I hate to say. I
don't think it ever leaves, does it? What have you
have you counselors, pastors, priest? I mean, do you talk
it out? Do they tell you some things to deal with?
Because you're going about your life, you're getting your CCW license.

(08:11):
Suddenly this is on you. Now? How do you deal
with it?

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah? There's a lot of groups out there. Unfortunately, there's
this there's this a club of parents that have lost
kids in one man or the other, murdered or overdosing
or some car wrecks, you know, so many different ways,
but you have you're losing a child. It's never expected, right,
So they're like Heines Hospice has a group, My church

(08:36):
has groups. My church has been amazing, like they've put
me into contact with so many different people that have
just reached out experiencing the same thing. And it's been
a comfort, you know, just a text here and there
from someone that's been through it. It's like, hey, you
got this today. It's so comforting.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
Let me.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Let me just ask both of you. You don't want
to answer, you don't have to, but did you go
through anger at God? Did you have that that time period?
Or maybe you're still in it? I mean I some anger.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
There, Yeah, personally I didn't. I understand the world we're
living in it it's really corrupt and you know, just
a lot of the laws we've seen and it's not
just my losing my son. There's a lot of peace
before the experiencing just grief and trauma. My own personal life,
Like I just know it's not from God, but it's
from other people really not in line with what God's doing.

(09:32):
Like you gonna give us this free will to do
if we want. But there's that allows for evil in here,
samanthas we.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Walk amongst the evil, And if anything, I feel like
I've gotten closer with God my faith.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Good to hear, good to hear. That's good to hear, Samantha.
Did you learn anything about the judicial system you might
not have been aware of before, anything that you can share.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
Just the Prop fifty seven is very misleading.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yes, indeed, and that change actually how sixteen and seventeen
year old skin be can be tried. And I assume
is that how Stephen, how you met Samantha and working
at fit against Prop fifty seven.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah, so I started getting at once once Caleb's death,
but you know, murder was out there. A couple of
days later, there was a kid in Hanford, Lorenzo. He
was stabbed at the Hanford Mall, and just getting on
the news trying to get everyone like for me to
find whoever did this to Caleb. I saw she was

(10:36):
having a protest, Lorenzo's mom, Julia, and so got in
contact with her, and then through through her, I got
in contact with Samantha like she was doing a protest.
It was like all of a sudden, we're looking around there,
like over the summer there's you know, there was three
major murders for teenagers done by teenagers. Hers was last year.

(10:57):
But like we still got connected through all this, and
our group is growing. We're up to like I think
fifteen families now reaching down into the Santa Mon Santa
Maria area where it was Brandon Cabrera over fourth of
July was just doing fireworks on the street with his
family and this I think it was a fifteen year
old walked up and said, Hey, do I know you?

(11:18):
And he says, no, I don't know. You need put
three bullets in him and he ran off, Like that's
what's crazy. Like this group has grown, but like these
stories are getting bigger and we're seeing like the Prop
fifty seven issue come up more and more.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Well, will these shooting suspects be tried as miners. That's
something that is still in the future. We're going to
come back and discuss what lies ahead for these two families.
Steven Quick, Samantha Baptista, their lives and their their kids'
lives tragically cut short. More with Steven and Samantha next assistent.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
Trevor Cherry Show on The Valley's Power.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
Talk My in studio guests Stephen Quick and Samantha Baptista
Stephen As the father of Caleb Quick murdered and McDonald's
in Clovis Samantha lust her son Jacob As you heard
that story at the age of thirteen, Samantha, they caught
the ones. Was it an individual that stabbed your son?

(12:16):
Was he called arrested, tried? Where are you in that process?

Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yes, we just had sentencing court on the fourth he was.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
He did get the maximum, but you know.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
Here in California, Howell was the guy with the knife.

Speaker 4 (12:28):
He was sixteen, sixteen.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
Yes, and what did he get.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
He got the maximum sentence which is eight years accredited
the one year, but with the property s having you
know that will be cut in out.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
And he was tried as a minor, not an adult.
And that's the problem. Stephen prought fifty seven. They changed
that age sixteen or seventeen no longer automatically tried as
adults and frozen. County DIA's office will be following emotion
for both minors, but we do not know yet correct
they have.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
So we're going through the process now. So the process
and the prop through to seven BILD. They said that
they'll have a hearing for transfer, but I've been having
status hearings for pretty much every other week for the
last five months, and so the decision to actually have
that hearing.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
What happens in those status hearings is it just kind.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Of it's just a dog and pony show in my opinion,
They just show up, say you ready. No, okay, well,
let's put it on a calendar for next month. And
since there's two.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Has it been the defense that's been saying no, they're
not ready?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yeah, but back and forth. Initially it was the district
attorney and then defense is like, no, we need more time,
there's more reports, there's more evidence when you get looked through.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
And so, how has your experience with the President County
District Attorney's office been.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
My experience with the Smick Camp's office has been great.
They've been very communicative. They hold back a lot of
information about the case, which.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
They kind of have to do so that I don't
that's kind of frustrating. I think it's apparent though.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Right, Yeah, Yeah, But like I was saying earlier, I've
i'm my mind is to figure things out. So I
figured out a lot of things just talking to a
lot of because there's a lot of friends there that
night that just has just vomited every information to me.

Speaker 4 (14:14):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Remind me of the time period from the murder until
was it about a four or five days where we
didn't know it yet, So.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
It was a whole week before the first police media
presentation of the car that they had on cameras and
that the individual all black that which was well, their
names are public is Byron and Byron Wrangle and Cassie Michaels. Yeah,
So it was the first seven days for the first

(14:46):
Clovis PD media attempt to get you know, Garner helped
to it, but they put out that they had the
white tesla, they had it on video, and then it
was seven days after that about that they actually got
a search warrants done and they executed it and they
got the white tesla. They pulled it. They saw that

(15:07):
on the news, and they also did a went to
the boy's house and got the actually found the firearm.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
That's okay, thank you for refreshing me on that. So
there was a time period where you had no idea
that you were on the extra guard.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
It over for about two weeks.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, like I was looking around at all times.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah, and I didn't know anything. Like my son has
a jeep that is pretty bright and well known in
the area. So I had hid that because I didn't
know what was going on, who was being targeted for
what reason? So yeah, like we.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Were on lockdown, Samantha. How long did it take before
police defind the killer of your son?

Speaker 4 (15:46):
They got him the next day.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Next day. It's somebody. Obviously there were eyes there that
saw what happened.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
Yeah, they didn't disclose that information, like you say, even
they do withhold a lot of information.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, well, what do you think, Stephn the odds are.
I'm sure you probably researched some cases in California where
some probably have been tried as an adult. They say
it determines seriousness of the offense, the criminal history, other factors.
I mean, you can't get more serious. It doesn't seem
that either Byron or Cassandra had a criminal history that

(16:23):
do they or have I not heard?

Speaker 2 (16:26):
We'll see at the hearing comes out with that. But yeah,
it doesn't look promising because now that the burden of
proofs on the district attorneys, not the defense were prior to.

Speaker 1 (16:38):
When you say it doesn't look promising, you mean for you, Yeah,
for both.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
It looks promising for the people that kill people. Yeah,
to put a bump.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Well, you that's true. So in all reality, eight years
or you said cut and half or good behavior, they
could be out before they're twenty three or twenty four. Right.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah, there's the bring Sergio Bonboster. He was murdered more
than five or six years ago, and his assailants murdered him,
dismembered them him sentenced in twenty twenty one, and they're
out now less than four years. And one of them

(17:18):
just started going to Sacramento State for college. So you
could be going to college and be sitting next to
someone that dismembered someone and killed someone.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Have you heard from the accused families at all? From
Byron or Cassandra's families, have they reached out at all? No?
I have not, not, Samantha. Did you ever hear from
the man's family that killed.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
No, not even an apology letter or no statement.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
What is the attitude in the courtroom, Stephen, I know
there's their families have been there as well.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah, so our our courtroom, it's both so since the
miners there, they've got their own separate case, so they're
at different times. That's why I go pretty much every
other week down to President of Juvenile Detention courtroom, and
it's public, so anyone can come. Yeah, their families squalk in.

(18:14):
One family is really quiet and the other one's pretty loud.
One individual's like smiles and giggles and laughs, and the
other person's pretty solemn. So's it's it's pretty crazy to
watch someone that murdered your son to sit there and
smile and laugh, and you know, it seems like they're
having a good time there.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
My guest Stephen Quick, the father of calab Quick, it
was murdered at the McDonald's, and Clovis and Samantha Baptista.
He's a mother Jacob that was murdered last year as well.
I asked Samantha earlier. Steven, I'll ask you if you
learned anything about the judicial system that you weren't aware
of until this situation being thrust into your life.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, like all of Prop fifty seven, like I voted
no against it back in twenty sixteen. Was done like
because it was heavily moved against by all of police.
District attorneys did not want it. I found in my
research finding all these organizations, you know, LA assistant district

(19:20):
attorney's offices where they were against this big group down there,
Like anything that has is pro police is against this prop.

Speaker 4 (19:28):
So I voted no.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
But that now we're seeing the effects. It's been nine
years since it's been signed, Like I'm experiencing it firsthand now,
like that these kids can get five to six years
and just have a normal life like nothing ever happened.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
Yeah, and if you're a gang bang and leader guy,
you'll get these younger guys. They can't be tried as adults,
so to go do some of the craziest stuff that. Yeah,
it's how it's working out. Steven Samantha, God bless both
of you. What's the best place and people want to
reach out and get involved with helping y'all stop Prop fifty.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
So right now we've got a Facebook page called Lorenzo's
Law under Lorenzo Sanchez that was the child he was
I think he was fifteen, No, he was seventeen murdered
by a fifteen year old. So we're we're putting together
Lorenzo's Law in memoriam of all three of ourch kids

(20:25):
and more to ratify Prop fifty seven. So that's how
you can.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
On Facebook Lorenzo's Law, Mister Quick, Miss Baptista, thank you
for your courage. Assistant Trevor Jerry show in London, Valley's
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