Dear Governor Gavin Newsom: 

      My name is Hassan Safieddine the father of Reda Safieddine, CDCR#AV1804. He is currently incarcerated at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe, CA. Parole Eligible Date April, 2025.

      My life has been going downhill since my son's incident. Reda was convicted in September of 2014. Reda has been in prison for nine years. He had not been involved in violence since his arrest in 2012. He attends and teaches many self-help classes and also completed 2 vocational classes and will soon finish his 3rd. Reda is also finishing college this semester with 3 associate degrees and around 130 college units. He has received numerous Certificates from Costline College, Palo Verde College, and NCCER.

      My oldest son passed away 5 years after my son’s incarceration, which broke our hearts. He left us with a beautiful lovely boy, our grandson, who was a one-year-old at the time of his father’s (my son) death. To me, losing a child made me feel like my life was over, too. My grandson is what is keeping my wife and I alive today. He is our soul. We are living just because of him, and need to take care of our only grandson-the only memory left from my son’s tragic passing. 

      We also recently learned of heartbreaking news. This past May, my grandson was complaining from hip, joint pain and stomach pain which was going for one month. His doctor told us not to worry and that he is just growing. Another doctor told us it was the flu. On June 30, my 5-year-old grandson woke up crying and complaining of immense pain from his joints and could not stand or walk. We rushed him to CHOC hospital ER. He was at the ER for 6 hours, where they conducted numerous tests of his hips and chest. I remember around 6pm that evening a doctor came to the room and asked me if he can speak with me alone outside the room. The doctor looked at me with his sad eyes and told me the shocking news: “your grandson is diagnosed with B-cell Acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL).” I broke down and could not stop crying. My wife heard me and came out to see what is going on, and she fainted when she heard the news. My grandson had to be admitted to the cancer institute for 16 days. We have been taking him to the hospital for his treatment almost 3 times per week since then. On November, my grandson had a bad reaction and allergy to the new Chemo and we almost lost him. They had to change his Chemo. The new Chemo was every other day for 2 weeks and it was an injection to his thighs. As of today, December 4, he had to start another round of Chemo for the next 2 weeks and we have to take him to his treatment on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Also, we were given 16 Chemo tablets to be given to him at night for 2 weeks.  

      My grandson recently was asked by a nurse what is your wish for Christmas? His response was to get better and be healthy. That was touchy and made everyone’s eyes fill with tears because we did not expect his response to be that at such a young age. Other kids were asking for toys, but not him. When we got home his uncle asked him again what is your wish for Christmas and his response was feel better and “to see my uncle Reda with us at home. I miss my uncle Reda so much I have not seen him since I got sick. I miss him so much and cannot wait till I see him and give him a big hug.”  

       My wife and I do not know how much we can handle anymore. We have been struggling and suffering immensely since 2014. Our son is in prison, our oldest son passed away tragically and now my grandson is diagnosed with cancer. Our lives, to say the least, have been extremely difficult for almost a decade of experiencing numerous traumatic and life-changing events. I’m not trying to have you sympathize with me, I just want to simply tell you our life story. We hope and pray that our grandson’s wish becomes true soon and he gets to see his uncle, Reda. Thank you for your time and consideration, and god bless you. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

This is a summary of Reda and his incident.

An honor student, academic achiever, and a giver. He donated blood whenever he could because he knew that it could save lives. He is very caring and helpful. And although he is not perfect, he has a great heart. I’m describing my son, Reda Safieddine. Unfortunately Reda did have a gun in his car that he used on that tragic day of August 13, 2012. But he did not keep a gun in his car because of what you may think. My son grew up with a passion for guns through his enjoyment of being someone who loved the military and its service men and women. He took criminal justice class and couldn't wait to join the criminal justice field. He also frequented the shooting range as a hobby.  

However, my son did end up killing someone. But this was not something that happened out of the blue. It was a built-up situation that ended terribly for all parties involved, especially the person who lost his life, regrettably. A party of 5 gang members, high on drugs who wanted to kill and harm my son were the ones that caused the tragic event that occurred on August 13, 2012. He was with his girlfriend at the time the incident took place, but he was also approached by them earlier that day, and on several occasions for months leading up to the aforementioned day. 

On August 13, 2012, about an hour before the incident happened, those same gang members threatened to kill him and his girlfriend as they followed him when they approached them both. My son was also “jumped” by them in the past. Those same gang members that were involved in the incident were the ones that admitted to the police that they were out to harm him and intended on instigating him to do what he did. They followed my son that entire day, ended up catching him again at a convenience store, walked towards him with gang signals, trapping him in a corner of without any way to escape. He felt that his life and his girlfriend’s lives were in danger.  

He was next to his car as they were approaching and he took out his shotgun and kept warning them to stop their approach. He knew the history involved with them for months, and that they threatened them both with death an hour before. His gun was loaded with bird shot pellets that were known to be less than lethal. He did not have any deadly pellets loaded. He kept yelling and insisting on them to leave but they kept getting closer as they were yelling slurs at him and his girlfriend. Once they got within feet of him he felt that they were going to take his gun and use it against him and his girlfriend, or harm him with weapons of their own. He and his girlfriend’s lives were in danger so he ended up shooting one of the gang members and unfortunately taking his life. As soon as that happened, the gang members encouraged to leave the scene. He instead told his girlfriend to call the police. The gang members guiltily fled the scene, stealing their shot friends car and left him dead all while disposing of the illegal items in the car (some found by the police). He never wanted this to happen. He felt that it was his life or the gang member’s life. My son didn’t approach them, didn’t stalk them, didn’t beat them up. My son was approached by these gang members, was stalked by these gang members, was beat up by these gang members. Even after he shot the gang member, he stayed there to help render aid, while the gang members "friends" stole his car leaving him for dead. 

Again, what happened was a terrible situation. My son made a terrible mistake but one that he felt was necessary at the time. He still regrets it. My son is not the prototypical “murderer.” He does not meet that definition. He felt that he was acting in self-defense. He warned them to stop, he yelled repeatedly to stand back and his gun had a less than lethal round loaded. He never denied what happened, he cooperated with the police. Has has been taking measures to better himself every single day while incarcerated. He was just a scared 18 year old at the time with his girlfriend whom they both felt their lives were threatened, especially considering the history leading up to the tragic incident that occurred on August 13, 2012, an incident that forever changed not one but two families lives forever.  

My son is not someone you picture as a murderer when you get to know him. He did not provoke the incident. He was the one that was trapped and felt that he had no choice. Nonetheless, I am not trying to make excuses, I’m just trying to give you his perspective. I truly believe that the past 10 years he has been serving is justice served to all of those involved. I kindly ask you to review his case. He has been using his time incarcerated to make an impact on others and is constantly evolving to better himself. He is an advocate for speaking out against gang violence and has made a commitment to help those who are young and who have made mistakes like he did. He has so much to offer to this world and I promise you he will be an upstanding citizen. Please give him that chance to prove to you who he really is. Thank you for your time and consideration.