California grants release to man who beat 2-year-old to death after serving just 15 years

In 2010, Josue Herrera was convicted of brutally murdering a two-year-old boy, beating the child viciously until he succumbed to his injuries. In April 2025, the California Parole Board granted him release.

Despite being sentenced to 25 years to life for the unthinkable crime, Herrera was released on parole after just 15 years served. The parole board believes that he no longer presents a danger to society and is remorseful for his actions, but the California DA’s office disagrees.

District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer forcefully rejected “the board’s decision to grant parole to an individual who took the life of an innocent child. We believe that Herrera has not served the necessary time to account for the gravity of his crime and remains a clear risk to public safety.”

While the parole board noted that Herrera did not have any formal reprimands while in prison, the DA’s office noted that he wasn’t exactly a model prisoner.

“Although he did not have any formal prison reprimands, he violated the rules of the prison daily with minor violations. He was involved in a restitution avoidance scam by putting or receiving funds onto his books for people that owed restitution to victims, in which he received a commission. Herrera admitted that he understood that it could affect the restitution that was due to the victims of crimes,” they said in a statement.

But the severity of Herrera’s offense cannot be understated.

According to authorities, he moved in with the victim’s mother just a month before the young boy died in 2008. After moving in, the child began presenting injuries to the eyes, face and buttocks. When he was confronted about the nature of the injuries, Herrera claimed that the boy had simply fallen, then changed his story to say he had slipped in the shower, once again changing his story to the child falling from the bed.

On August 10, 2008, the victim’s mother headed to work, leaving her son and Herrera at home alone. At 10:30 the same morning, local authorities received a call that an injured child had been taken to the hospital with severe head injuries. The extent of the injuries is enough to make even the strongest person nauseous.

The two-year-old presented with a depressed skull fracture, which is not the kind of injury that could be sustained by a simple tumble. Doctors indicated that blunt force strikes to the head, delivered with significant force, could be the cause.

After being transferred to another hospital, it was determined that the child was experiencing hemorrhaging in both of his eyes, and also had detached retinas. He passed away shortly after, and an autopsy of his body revealed that only severe abuse, not an accidental fall, could have resulted in such a condition. The pathologist said that he believed the boy suffered at least two to three forceful blows to the head.

X users called out California’s idea of “justice”:

@GavinNewsom, you’d best deny it.

— Michael James (@MichaelPlaysGit) April 19, 2025

The California Parole Board just told every grieving parent that their child’s life has an expiration date for justice.

No serious society does this. None.

— TechSignals (@TechSignalsonX) April 19, 2025

And this is why vigilante justice will be making a comeback. We are close.

— GX460 (@GX4600) April 19, 2025

“Mercy for the guilty is cruelty for the innocent”

— Luis Centeno (@SpeakerLuis) April 19, 2025

Why would anyone ever want to raise a child in California?

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) April 19, 2025

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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