‘We want their bodies so we can have closure’: Family of West boys hopes for more answers

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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – After the jury read its verdicts convicting Trezell and Jacqueline West on five of seven charges including second-degree murder, there was immediate reaction from inside and outside the courtroom.

“Yes!!” said one supporter of the family listening to the verdict on her phone.

Once court adjourned, family, friends, and supporters embraced, cried, and celebrated what they felt was something they knew all along since the day Orrin and Orson West were first reported missing in December 2020.

“We knew they were going to be found guilty […] the story told the truth from the beginning,” said family friend Keisha Stevenson.

Jurors found Trezell and Jacqueline West guilty of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty regarding 4-year-old Orrin West. But the jury failed to reach verdicts on second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with 3-year-old Orson’s death.

However, for Orrin and Orson’s biological family, both Trezell and Jacqueline West being found guilty on five out of seven charges is better than no justice for the boys at all.

“When I heard [the verdicts] that I really wanted to hear I was like thank you Jesus, he can’t give it all to us, but he gave us that main part,” Stevenson said.