A man convicted of the 1983 murder of his girlfriend's 22-month-old son will stay in prison for at least three more years.
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office announced that a panel of two Board of Parole Hearing commissioners made the decision Tuesday.
Last year, the board granted Christopher Fowler parole but was reversed by Gov. Jerry Brown on April 7 of this year. Tuesday's parole hearing took place at California Training Facility in Soledad, where Fowler is in prison.
In 1984, Fowler as convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the fatal injuries inflicted on his girlfriend's son Nov. 1, 1983. The night before the murder, Fowler and his girlfriend were at their Woodland home. The next day, Fowler was babysitting the boy and the child's 3-year-old sister. When the boy would not stop crying, Fowler smacked him in the face, shook him and threw him to the ground twice, according to a District Attorney's Office news release.
The youngster's sister witnessed the assault, and the baby's grandmother drove him to Woodland Memorial Hospital. The child was later transferred to UC Davis Medical Center due to the life-threatening injuries. He was in a coma until Nov. 3, when he was pronounced dead as a result of fatal brain injuries, according to the news release.
Fowler has been in prison for 27 years and has had 13 previous hearings.
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