Exclusive | Mom of slain cop breaks down over Gavin Newsom’s mass commutation of death row killers

The reverberations from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to commute the death sentences of all 548 condemned inmates in California has left surviving loved ones reeling, including one 78-year-old mother who broke down in tears in an interview with The California Post.

Phyllis Loya is the mother of Larry Lasater. He was shot and killed on April 23, 2005, while working as a police officer in Pittsburg, California.

Lasater was attempting to arrest two robbery suspects that had targeted a supermarket and bank, according to local police. Alexander Rashad Hamilton, hiding in a bush, shot and killed Lasater and was later sentenced to death — until Newsom decided to spare his life Thursday.

Loya said her first reaction when she heard about Newsom’s act was “immense anger.” She said she found out while leaving the gym with friends, proclaiming, “This is the worst day of my life.”

“It’s been very tough. It’s very emotional,” the mother said.

Loya pinned the pain she was feeling on the governor. She told The Post she didn’t believe in Newsom’s stated reason of abiding by his morals in commuting the sentences.

She instead accused the governor of being a “political animal” for dropping news of his decision right after the midterms, which showed a Democratic trouncing of Republicans.

“He wants to be president. So I was thinking he was testing the water, and the election made him go for it today. That was the only thing that held off his decision,” Loya said.

“Does Gavin Newsom ever talk about the victims? No, he doesn’t,” she added.

She noted that Newsom, when he first ran for governor, told editorial boards at the time that he would “follow the will of the people” when asked on the death penalty.

He never did, Loya said, pointing to Newsom’s 2019 moratorium on executions and the fact California voters have voted to keep the death penalty on the books.

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“He doesn’t care about the will of the people. He cares about what’s going to be good for Gavin Newsom. And if I sound bitter, I am bitter,” she said.

For many years, Loya said she’s already been struggling with going to court dates for the case of the other robbery suspect in her son’s death, who was sentenced to life. Newsom’s mass commutation is a double blow for her, she said.

“To get retraumatized, except see, this time, it’s not the killer retraumatizing us. I’m being retraumatized by laws passed by the legislatures or by the governor. That’s retraumatizing,” she said. “That’s who’s retraumatizing me, not the killer. The putting the knife in and twisting it, that’s the Legislature and the governor.”

For the now spared killer who has a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Loya said she had no confidence in the justice system to maintain that punishment.

Many victim advocates have been protesting the state’s parole board and lawmakers for supposedly loosening parole terms or granting more accessways to parole.

Loya said she wanted the public to know how good of a person his son was. Lasater was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Pittsburg Police Department for five years.

The killing of Lasater not only deprived a life but also took away a father. His son was born two-and-a-half months after his death.

“The closest my son ever came to holding his son was a sonogram that was buried with him in his lifeless hands,” Loya said while crying.

“Those bullets that killed my son killed a part of me and a part of everybody that loved him.”