Dan Levey became a crime victims' advocate following his brother's murder in 1996. He's advocating for himself and his brother's family that the killer not be set free.
Arizona Republic
I met Dan Levey near the basketball court at Clarendon Elementary School in downtown Phoenix in early November 1996, at the spot where his brother, Howard, had been murdered a week earlier.
Howard and some friends had a regular pick-up basketball game at the court on Sundays. On the day he was killed, Howard got to the court early, around 7 a.m., and was sitting in his 1994 Ford Mercury, reading the paper, when he was attacked.
The gunman wanted his car. Howard might have resisted. He was shot, dragged from the driver’s seat and left on the street. The car was abandoned just a few blocks away.
Howard died later at the hospital.
Judge said killer should never be let out
There still were jagged nuggets of automobile glass on the pavement the day I met Dan at the scene.
He told me at the time, “I got a phone call on a Sunday morning and life changed forever.”
I also spoke to Howard’s wife, who said, “Can there be a bigger waste? This funny, lovely man is gone for a ride of three blocks.”
The killer was caught and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty. At his sentencing the judge said, “You have absolutely no shame, absolutely no remorse for what you did. None.”
The judge then sentenced him to life “without the possibility of release on any basis until he has served 25 calendar years.” He added a recommendation that “the defendant not be released from prison and that he be required to serve the rest of his natural life in prison.”
28 years later, Dan Levey remains a victim
When his brother was killed, Dan Levey was working toward a career as a juvenile probation officer. That changed. It’s what happens to families when dealing with such a horror. I've learned this from too many victims over the years.
Levey, with whom I kept in contact, wound up dedicating his life to helping crime victims. Today he is the executive director of Arizona Crime Victim Rights Law Group.
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It seems like everything changes when a family member is killed. And a lot does. Except for one thing. Dan and his family were crime victims 28 years ago. They remain victims today.
Levey was told by the Department of Corrections that his brother’s killer is coming up for a parole hearing. Levey believes that’s wrong. He and his attorney believe the killer only has an opportunity for commutation.
There’s a big difference.
An Arizona law change has caused confusion
In the early 1990s, the possibility of parole in Arizona was changed to the possibility of commutation.
Parole could be granted by a parole board, based on an inmate’s behavior and rehabilitation. Commutation requires a recommendation from the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, which then goes to the governor, who decides whether there will be a release.
Levey has filed a lawsuit to have his brother’s killer fall under commutation rules. His lawyer is asking the court to put off any hearing of a possible parole for the inmate until that lawsuit is resolved.
“There was some confusion in some court cases after parole was changed to commutation,” Levey said. “With parole they get to ask for release again every six months. It isn’t that way with commutation.
“The judge in this case recommended that this man never walk among society again. Howard can’t speak for himself. We have to do that for him. We have to hope that the courts hear.”
Who gets a life sentence in these cases?
Howard Levey did not get to see his children grow into successful adults. He never met his grandchildren.
The world turns and the years roll by, and everything from 1996 seems like forever ago to most of us. But not to us all.
There is something about Dan Levey’s experience that rings true for all of the family members who have lost someone to violent crime.
A life sentence may or may not mean “life” for the killer. But it always, always does for the victims.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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