Life in prison for Abrams

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- Steven Allen Abrams, the man who stunned the community

last year when he drove his car into a crowded Costa Mesa preschool

playground and killed two children, will spend the rest of his life in

prison.

After five hours of deliberation Wednesday, jurors made their

decision, steering clear of the prosecution’s plea to impose the death

penalty on Abrams.

The courtroom, the scene of tearful testimony from victims’ families

only days ago, was quiet when Abrams’ fate was announced.

It stood in sharp contrast to May 3, 1999, when Abrams steered his

monstrous 1967 Cadillac into a playground full of young children at the

Southcoast Early Learning Childhood Center.

But as he did in the moments following his actions on that day, Abrams

did not react and kept his head lowered.

His sentencing marked the end of a tedious, emotional and dramatic

trial that lasted nearly three months. It involved several witnesses and

expert opinions from numerous psychiatrists, and attorneys and jurors

reviewed hours of videotape and reams of transcripts.

On Aug. 24, the jury of 10 women and two men found Abrams guilty of

two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Last week, they

ruled that he was legally sane when he committed the crimes.

On Wednesday, family members of the slain children -- 4-year-old

Sierra Soto and 3-year-old Brandon Wiener -- said the feeling following

Abrams’ sentencing was bittersweet.

Sierra’s father, Eric Soto, said although the death penalty would have

been the only just punishment for Abrams’ heinous act, “in the end,

justice was served.”

Sierra’s mother, Cindy, a fixture in the courtroom throughout the

trial, was not present Wednesday.

“It’s been a long 18 months for us,” Eric Soto said. “It’s been very

tough emotionally.”

Abrams’ brothers, sisters and aunt, who called him “sweet and kind”

when they testified Tuesday, also were not present.

Public Defender Denise Gragg wept after the clerk read the verdict.

She said it was one of the most challenging and emotionally draining

cases she has ever handled.

“I felt strongly that someone who committed a crime and was psychotic

at that time shouldn’t be put to death,” said Gragg. “The jury system

worked.”

Gragg said she was discouraged after the jury found Abrams to be sane.

“I was worried I hadn’t done a good enough job,” she said. “But we

believed in what we were doing.”

District Attorney’s spokeswoman Tori Richards called the sentencing

“disappointing.”

“This person intentionally killed the children,” she said. “He planned

to mow down as many children as he could. And he caused his own mental

illness.”

The prosecution had argued that years of drug abuse led Abrams to the

playground. Gragg had countered that Abrams was a paranoid schizophrenic

haunted by ‘brain wave people’ who wanted to make him a killer.

A juror who wished to remain anonymous said the sentencing was the

“toughest decision I ever made in my life.

“A person’s life is hanging in the balance here,” she said. “And that

makes it so hard.”

Brandon’s grandparents, Max and Isabella Wiener, said regardless of

the trial’s result, they would miss the “joyful boy with a sweet smile”

for the rest of their lives.

“There is a boy that will never come back, never be alive,” Isabella

Wiener said. “We will never have closure because there will always be

reminders of a little boy who never had the chance to live.”

Eric Soto said he feels pain every time he sees or hears something

that reminds him of Sierra.

“It could be a song, words, her favorite cartoons,” he said. “Every

time that happens, it’s like somebody rips your chest open, pulls out

your heart and throws it in a pond filled with mud.”

He added that the long trial has brought the Sotos and Wieners closer

together.

“The tragedy is like a common denominator for us,” he said. “It has

given us an opportunity to bond, to comfort each other.”