A prosecutor during closing arguments in Kern County Superior Court on Monday painted adoptive parents accused of murdering Orrin and Orson West as abusive liars whose failure to protect their young children led to them dying while the defense said these characterizations don’t align with evidence.
Trezell and Jacqueline West have pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, an involuntary manslaughter charge, conspiracy, willful cruelty to a child and falsely reporting an emergency in the deaths of Orrin and Orson West. Jurors will begin their deliberations Wednesday. Prosecutor Eric Smith is seeking a guilty verdict on all counts while defense attorneys are seeking a not guilty verdict.
Smith argued Trezell, 36, and Jacqueline West, 33, favored their two biological children over their four adoptive kids and didn’t act to prevent Orrin, 4, from dying because their biological children would be snatched away. Orson was killed by his adoptive parents because questions would arise once family members realized Orrin wasn’t there, Smith added.
Defense attorneys maintained there’s no evidence to prove the when, why or how behind what happened to Orrin and Orson. Evidence presented in this case was tainted and numerous missteps by law enforcement don’t allow a prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the kids were murdered by their clients, according to defense attorneys.
“You guys are in a tough spot,” Timothy Hennessy, an attorney defending Trezell West, said to the jurors. More than 65 witnesses and 120 marked pieces of evidence were litigated throughout the 22-day trial, with the first opening statements presented at the end of March.
Smith attempted to assert that no one in the Wests’ family saw Orrin and Orson since February 2020 and sought to show the boys died in September 2020. The Wests reported their boys missing from their California City home on Dec. 21, 2020.
The boys’ bodies have never been found.
The Wests’ then 10-year-old child said he saw Orrin vomiting one day while the family lived in Bakersfield in September 2020. His color was changing, the child told a forensic interviewer, and Orrin’s body was cold when he touched it. Orson was never seen again by this same child after a sound like a soap bottle falling in the bathroom rang out at the Wests’ California City home, he testified.
This child is the only eyewitness to Orrin allegedly dying, according to evidence presented in trial. He testified at trial — along with the Wests’ four other kids — and said his parents swore him to secrecy to never divulge what happened to Orrin because he would be removed from his parents’ care by Child Protective Services.
It’s not known what act killed Orrin, Smith said. The now-12-year-old child told forensic interviewers two years ago Orrin had stolen Orson’s cup that had food.
Stealing the cup led Orrin to be in trouble, Smith said. The Wests choke and spank kids so hard they start to bleed for their discipline measures, he added, trying to imply this may have been how Orrin died.
The Wests loved and adored their biological children, and knew they could be taken away once family members started coming over to the Wests’ California City home, Smith noted. The night before Trezell’s mom was to come over, Smith said, the defendants killed Orson to prevent any questions about what happened to Orrin.
“They got three months to discard the bodies,” Smith said.
However, the Wests made one mistake, he said.
The parents didn’t realize law enforcement could question their kids without their permission. That’s when their kids started sharing what happened to Orrin and Orson, and led to the basis of the charges against them, Smith said.
“Trezell and Jacqueline have no moral fiber. They killed two kids,” Smith said. “But, their children — they do.”
Timothy Hennessy, defending Trezell West, argued his client couldn’t have killed his kids. Trezell built them custom bunk beds and a whole classroom inside their California City home.
There was never any serious inquiry by police if the kids actually were kidnapped, Hennessy said. That’s caused the investigation to be skewed from the beginning because police became pigeonholed on one outcome — that the Wests committed murder, he added.
For example, California City police officer Brian Hansen kept telling people there was no evidence of children living in the Wests’ California City home, which led everyone to establish their questions and investigation around his statement, Hennessy said.
However, there were children’s items in the house. The defense attorneys brought out a stuffed Pikachu toy, multicolored plastic balls, a toy, children’s clothes, diapers, wrapped gifts, stockings, Santa Claus hats and two car seats in front of the jury.
There were toothbrushes that weren’t collected from bathrooms to be tested for DNA. There were kids’ blankets that weren’t thoroughly swabbed for DNA, Hennessy said.
And, there’s no evidence the West children were physically abused, Hennessy said. All four kids were subject to exams in which their bodies were searched for bruises and scars.
Alekxia Torres Stallings, defending Jacqueline, noted there are glaring issues with California City police officers’ investigation. There was surveillance footage that wasn’t seized by police, and officers didn’t write a complete report of their findings.
“Such an egregious … disgusting display and a sock-in-the-face to the law,” Torres Stallings said of police officers’ incomplete investigation.
The 12-year-old boy had inconsistent statements, Torres Stallings said. That star witness testified during a prior proceeding he last saw Orrin in December 2020, which contradicts his testimony of seeing Orrin die in September 2020.
Jurors are set to consider if they believe the Wests or their children.
Two different versions of justice were posed to jurors.
Smith implored them to find the Wests guilty of killing their youngest kids — they were parents and failed to act as such when Orrin died.
“It’s time for justice,” Smith said. “Orrin and Orson deserve justice.”
Torres Stallings told jurors acquitting her client would allow law enforcement to keep this case open and search for Orrin and Orson.
“Do more for these two little Black kids than anyone … has done for them in the last three years they have been missing,” Torres Stallings said.