San Diego, California – David Westerfield, the man convicted in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in Sabre Springs, has been relocated from San Quentin State Prison to High Desert State Prison in northeastern California. The move, part of the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program, was confirmed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Friday.
Under this program, inmates with death sentences are transferred to general population prisons across the state, with Westerfield now set to serve the remainder of his sentence at the new facility. Despite the transfer, his condemned sentence remains unchanged, according to CDCR spokesperson Terri Hardy.
The relocation of Westerfield is part of a broader initiative by CDCR to phase out segregated death row units at San Quentin in compliance with Proposition 66, a voter-approved measure that mandates death-sentenced inmates to work and pay restitution to their victims. By this summer, all inmates with death sentences are expected to be rehoused in institutions with an electrified secured perimeter.
The case of Danielle van Dam, who went missing in February 2002, triggered a widespread search effort throughout the county before her body was tragically discovered nearly a month later. Westerfield, a neighbor of the van Dam family, was subsequently convicted of kidnapping, first-degree murder, and possession of child pornography six months after her disappearance.
In a significant development, the Supreme Court of California upheld Westerfield’s death penalty sentence in February 2019, cementing his fate within the criminal justice system. Currently, CDCR data shows that there are 641 individuals with condemned sentences, with a total of 189 transfers from San Quentin and 20 transfers from Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla as of April 12.
As CDCR continues to implement changes to its condemned inmate population, the relocation of David Westerfield highlights the complexities and challenges associated with managing individuals on death row in California’s prison system.