A transgender woman who murdered a lesbian couple in what was termed a hate crime has been sent to a women’s prison under a new California law – sparking fears about the safety of other inmates.
Dana Rivers, 68, was convicted in November of the 2016 killings of Oakland resident Charlotte Reed, 56; her wife Patricia Wright, 57; and Wright’s adopted 19-year-old son, Benny Toto Diambu-Wright.
The court in Oakland heard that Rivers served as an ‘enforcer’ of an all-female biker gang, and was enraged at Reed for leaving the gang.
Judge Scott Patton called the triple murders ‘the most depraved crime I ever handled in the criminal justice system in 33 years’, and sentenced Rivers, a former high school teacher, to life in prison on June 14.
But Rivers has now been sent to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, thanks to a Californian law which took effect in 2021, allowing prisoners to request that their gender identity decides where they are held.
Dana Rivers, 68, was sent to a female prison earlier this month after she murdered a lesbian couple and their son in their California home on November 11, 2016
Patricia Wright (left), her wife Charlotte Reed (right) were found stabbed and shot multiple times in their Oakland home. Their son Benny Diambu-Wright, 19, was also found shot dead in front of the home
Activists have said that it is dangerous to keep other female inmates with Rivers, a pioneering transgender woman who was open about her transition in 1999, and discussed her 2001 surgery on ABC News’ 20/20.
Rivers shot Reed twice and stabbed her 40 times at the home she shared with her family; shot her wife in the back and left breast and stabbed her in the neck and shoulder; then fatally shot their son.
Police were called to the sound of gunshots and officers arrived at the home to find a blood-covered Rivers holding a can of gasoline, with knives, brass knuckles and ammunition in her pockets.
She has been in custody ever since.
Kara Dansky, an author who describes herself as a ‘feminist fighting for the sex-based rights of women and girls’, said that Rivers was not safe to be housed with other women.
‘They did it,’ she tweeted.
‘On June 16, 2023, the CDCR transferred him to the Central California Women’s Facility.’
Dansky said female inmates were being put at risk by Scott Wiener, a state senator representing San Francisco, who introduced the prisons bill, and Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed it into law.
‘But it’s not over,’ said Dansky. ‘We’ll never stop fighting.’
Dansky, who referred to Rivers as ‘he’, told The New York Post: ‘There was something truly vile about the way this was carried out and his obvious hatred of her.
‘My feeling from knowledge of the case is that he killed her because he couldn’t be her – and he shouldn’t be in prison with other women.’
The Central California Womens Facility in Chowchilla is the largest female prison in the state
Rivers has already been transferred to Chowchilla prison, where well over half of all California’s female inmates are housed
Amie Ichikawa, 41, who spent five years at the same Chowchilla prison Rivers is going to, said the law was ‘lesbophobic’, and endangered the lives of half of California’s female prison population.
California currently has 3,158 women behind bars – over half the 5,849 state total.
Ichikawa said the law ‘has allowed over 50% of the population in womens prison to be forcibly housed with Dana Rivers who is a #lesbian killer. 100% of these #women are at risk.’
She said Rivers committed a ‘hate crime’ and was not safe among other inmates, who were frightened by trans prisoners.
‘They get very anxious when a [trans woman] gets processed in,’ she told The New York Post.
‘Even when they’re post-op, if they get mad they go right back to angry man mode.’
Wright was a semi-retired teacher at Esperanza Elementary School and had been married to Reed, a US Air Force veteran and businesswoman, for more than a year.
Reed and Wright adopted Diambu-Wright from Africa together, but Wright also had another son separately. He was not injured in the triple-murder.
That son, Khari Campbell-Wright previously said Rivers was an acquaintance.
In a 2016 interview with the East Bay Times, he suggested it was a random act of violence.
‘My mom had no part in it. My brother had no part in it. Wrong place, wrong time,’ Campbell-Wright said.
The married couple is pictured on Facebook riding a motorcycle after getting hitched. River attempted to escape on the same motorcycle the night of the murders.
Wright, left, and Rivers, right, knew their killer
Wright and Reed share two other children together. Their son Diambu-Wright, who was also killed, was from Africa
Rivers is formally known as David Warfield. She was terminated from her job at Center High School in Antelope after transitioning
Rivers is a US Navy Veteran and former award-winning teacher when she went by the name David Warfield in the 1990s.
The veteran notified Center High School in Antelope about her plans to undergo surgery to change her gender and was put on leave before she was fired.
Rivers gained media attention in 1999 following her termination and the launch of a lawsuit against the school that reached a $150,000 settlement.
The alleged murder was in the spotlight for a short period of time and appeared on several television shows, including the Today show.
DailyMail
