Bakersfield man who was 15 when he murdered his mother has parole hearing Thursday

Aug. 25—Debbie Hankins and Torie Knapp became best friends in 1975 when they were in their freshman year at North High School.

Through graduation and college and marriage and children, through triumph and tragedy, their friendship never waned.

Then on July 3, 2001, as she vacationed with her family in Morro Bay, Hankins learned that Knapp had been brutally murdered in her Bakersfield home, and that Knapp's 15-year-old son, Parker Chamberlin, was somehow involved.

"We drove home immediately," Hankins remembered 20 years later. "It was devastating."

Despite his age, Chamberlin was charged as an adult in the brutal killing of his mother. After initially concocting a story about an intruder, he admitted to choosing a knife in the kitchen, entering his mother's bedroom as she lay sleeping, and stabbing her 35 times.

Chamberlin was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

On Thursday, the now 35-year-old Chamberlin will tell his story again at a parole hearing held at Valley State Prison near Chowchilla, the prison where he is incarcerated. It is his first parole hearing, and it could mean eventual freedom for Chamberlin, who has lived his entire adult life — and a significant part of his adolescence — behind bars.

Inmates like Chamberlin who are serving indeterminate sentences — they are often called "lifers" — have the right to be considered for parole. Thursday's hearing will consist of two commissioners or a commissioner and deputy commissioner appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

Hankins will be among those who speak at the hearing through a remote video system. So will Richard D. Moore, Knapp's father and Chamberlin's grandfather. Both are clear in their belief that Chamberlin should not be released from prison.

"He's intelligent. He knows how to deceive," Moore, who is now 79, said of his grandson.

Moore said he believes Chamberlin has played the role of model prisoner for 20 years, all with the intention of achieving early release and gaining other privileges.

But now is not the time, Moore said, to unlock the gates of the prison for his grandson.

The Board of Prison Hearings is required at youth offender parole hearings to give great weight to factors specific to youth offenders like Chamberlin, including the diminished culpability of juveniles as compared with adults, the hallmark features of youth, and any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the inmate.

"Mr. Chamberlin is nothing like the child at 15 years old who committed the crime," said Assistant Kern County Public Defender Peter Kang, who represented Chamberlin two years ago when the inmate was returned to Kern County Superior Court for a re-sentencing hearing.

Kang and others argued at the hearing that Chamberlin was rehabilitated and led an exemplary life in prison, a place that doesn't lend itself to exemplary lives.

A psychologist who examined Chamberlin found no evidence of psychopathy. Counselors who worked with Chamberlin in prison testified they found him to be a model inmate who helped others and sought no special favors.

At the hearing, witnesses testified to Chamberlin's potential and capability to positively serve the community if he is released.

"Parker should be released," Kang said.

Definitive research has shown the adolescent brain is different from the brain of an adult.

Kang noted the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized psychology and brain science have found fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds.

One researcher likened it to driving a car. Adolescents are good at acceleration, but have more limited skills in braking and the complex nuance of controlling the whole vehicle.

Thursday could be Chamberlin's last chance for years to come.

In murder cases, the governor may reverse or modify any parole decision within 30 days after the decision becomes final, Kang said. Even after a lifer is granted parole and the time for review has passed, the release can be rescinded for various reasons, usually involving misconduct or new information.

"If paroled, Parker will have to serve life parole," he said.

For Knapp's best friend, Debbie Hankins, Chamberlin's release from prison is unthinkable.

"He's risen to the top in prison just as we all predicted," she said.

"The state of California is looking for a shining example of its programs for rehabilitation," Hankins said.

But she said he's the same as he was before, and that the boy she once adored as the only son of her best friend should remain in prison for life for what he did.

"I loved him. He was Torie's son," she said. "But he did what he did. Some things define you."

Her vivacious, talented, beautiful friend, loved by hundreds of third-graders she taught at Highland Elementary in Oildale, is gone. And the two friends cannot enjoy the latter chapters of their lives together.

The finality of it, the hurt in it, cannot be brushed aside. Life on the outside for Chamberlin, she said, should not be an option.

"How do you come back from murdering your mother?"

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.