BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The sentencing of a couple facing life terms in prison for the disappearance of their two youngest adopted sons has been postponed to September following a brief hearing Thursday morning.
Trezell West, 36, and Jacqueline West, 33, will return to court Sept. 13 for sentencing. Defense counsel requested the postponement to prepare “necessary paperwork.”
A jury in May found the Wests guilty of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty regarding the death of Orrin, 4, but failed to reach verdicts on second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with 3-year-old Orson’s death. A guilty verdict for child cruelty was returned regarding Orson.
Prosecutor Eric Smith did not reveal whether he intends to retry the Wests on the hung charges.
The Wests reported Orrin and Orson missing from their California City home on Dec. 21, 2020. Prosecutors say the boys died three months earlier while the family was still living at an apartment in Bakersfield. Their bodies have not been found.
The Wests’ eldest child, 10 at the time of the boys’ disappearance, testified he saw Orrin dead and his parents told him if he said anything he and the other children would be taken away. He testified he doesn’t know what his parents did with the body.
The family moved from Bakersfield to California City a week later, according to the boy’s testimony. He said Orson disappeared soon after.
Defense counsel argued authorities focused on their clients at the expense of thoroughly investigating other possibilities, including whether the boys were kidnapped by a sex offender or someone from their biological family.
