Update: We won!  Please no donations. Diversion was denied due to the violent and heinous details of the crime, his past,  and overall risk to public safety. We are beyond relieved and grateful to this outpouring of support. I decided to not close this petition as the battle is far from over. Defense can appeal and there are still other diversion programs California allows that would allow release back into the community. I think it is invaluable to raise awareness and demand public safety always be considered first. Our story didn’t make the news and makes me wonder how many similar stories are out there.  No more donations please (But a huge thank you for everyone that already donated). Just continue to share our story, this petition, raise awareness, and demand safer communities.

We are Luke and Brooke Morris, residents of San Juan Capistrano, CA. We are asking for your help in a rallying cry for our community's safety, as well as our own personal safety, and for justice to be served. In 2023, we were violently assaulted by an intruder in the safety of our home. Our neighbor broke into our home with the sole intention of murdering us. This was an attempted murder, not a burglary gone wrong. He chased Brooke with a knife. He explicitly screamed at us to get on our knees and declared that he was going to kill us. Luke intervened and fought to protect his wife and three children, ultimately saving their lives and his, in the fight he was stabbed five times, including his head, dodging a dozen more. It was an extremely violent altercation which left Luke with surgery, permanent injuries and nerve damage and he is lucky to be alive. We all are. The attempted murderer then fled from the scene and hid in our neighborhood bushes while police, K9 units, and a helicopter team searched for him. This attack came out of nowhere, as we had no real prior relationship with him, but this was a premeditated and planned attack. 

The attacker is being charged with attempted murder in the 1st degree, among other charges. This was not this man’s first offense. Court records show he has been a revolving door in the system for over 10 years and has served jail time for past crimes. He was a convicted felon prior to this attack. He has also failed out of court forgiveness programs due to non-compliance.

We are now awaiting a Mental Health Diversion hearing on December 18th. If Mental Health Diversion is granted, in place of incarceration, the attacker is only required a MAXIMUM of 2 years of therapy. This means he will be walking our community streets, unsupervised, in as little as a few months. California has no laws or guardrails in place to keep our community safe, nor to mandate medication or place of residence for the perpetrator. The court loses all jurisdiction and any management of him. He has a long history of medication non-adherence. Ask yourself if you would be ok with him being your neighbor? 

Unfortunately, the biggest predictor of future violence with his mental illness is a history of violence. If granted Mental Health Diversion we believe he will act violently again either against us or someone else. The only guarantee of safety for us and the community is if this dangerous man is secured in prison.

Mental Health Diversion has its place and there are appropriate situations where it can be valuable. However, this is not one of those situations. This man is not fit for Mental Health Diversion because of the danger he poses to society and our family based on this horrendous attack. From past experience we know he has both the capacity and intent to commit lethal levels of violence. Granting diversion in this case would undermine public safety and justice for us as the victims of a violent crime. This isn’t about retaliation, nor anger, nor forgiveness; it is about safety. Our kids have already endured so much, they don’t deserve to be uprooted from their home, state, school, friends, teams and community they love. They shouldn’t have to start life over somewhere else because of someone else’s choices. 

We hope you will join us in this fight to protect our children and our community by signing this petition to the Superior Court Judge in Orange County, CA.

By signing, you stand with the victims of this horrific attack and with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in seeking justice and ensuring that our community remains safe from this violent offender, to deny the request for Mental Health Diversion and to pursue full criminal accountability for the violent offenses committed.

Please help us by signing, sharing and spreading the word. Multiple family members may sign. Signers do not need to be a member of our direct community.