A Kern County jury convicted the adoptive parents of Orrin, 4, and Orson West, 3, of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Orrin after deliberating for about two days. However, they were deadlocked on a second-degree murder charge in regard to Orson.
The verdict was read Friday morning in Kern County Superior Court.
Trezell, 36, and Jacqueline, 33, West killed Orrin, who prosecutors said died in September 2020, or three months prior to the Wests reporting them missing in December 2020.
The Wests’ then 10-year-old child told a forensic interviewer he saw Orrin vomiting and choking one day, and his color changing while living with his family in their Bakersfield apartment. He touched Orrin’s body and it was cold, the child told forensic interviewers.
This same child told the forensic interviewer, who specializes in questioning children, that Orson was never seen again after a sound like a soap bottle falling in the bathroom rang out after the Wests moved to California City.