West
'Yacht Killer' got taxpayer-funded sex change while on death row after Harris' 'behind the scenes' policy work
A California serial killer who tied an Arizona couple to an anchor and drowned them in the Pacific Ocean to raise money for a sex-change operation finally got one while sitting on death row – with taxpayers footing the bill thanks to left-wing policies pushed under former state Attorney General Kamala Harris, now the Democratic 2024 presidential nominee, according to a new report.
Skylar DeLeon, 45, is a former child actor, born John Jacobson Jr. in 1979. DeLeon was sentenced to death in 2009 for the 2004 murders of yacht owners Thomas and Jackie Hawks and was separately convicted of the 2003 murder of an associate named Jon Jarvi from Anaheim.
In a letter to the Washington Free Beacon published Tuesday, DeLeon wrote about receiving “gender affirming surgery and breast augmentation” on April 5, 2023. The killer had been taking female hormones since first arriving on death row in San Quentin on April 16, 2009.
The condemned inmate told Fox News Digital that “the media is saying things that are factually inaccurate.” DeLeon declined to go into specifics but claimed to have obtained a legal name change to Skylar Sophia DeLeon 20 years ago. The killer, however, used that name while outwardly identifying as male for years.
HARRIS ONCE BOASTED OF ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ WORK TO GET ‘EVERY’ TRANS INMATE ACCESS TO GENDER SURGERIES
A photo of Skylar Deleon is displayed at Newport Harbor in Newport Beach, California, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016. (Mark Rightmire/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
“I am sorry, but I can’t talk with you,” DeLeon wrote. “One thing though, quit calling me John Jacobson – that is not my name. My legal name is Skylar Sophia DeLeon. It has been changed since I was much younger, way before my arrest.”
DeLeon had planned to use the victims’ money to fund a sex-change operation as early as 2004, Orange Coast Magazine reported back in 2015.
According to court documents, DeLeon and then-wife Jennifer Henderson pretended to be interested in buying the 55-foot yacht, named “Well Deserved,” from the Hawks couple.
Ryan Hawks holds a photo of his missing parents, Thomas and Jackie Hawks, who were reported missing after they sold their boat. The photo was taken on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004 at the Newport Beach police station. (Robert Lachman/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
DeLeon and two male accomplices attacked them with stun guns during a test drive. They forced the couple to sign over power of attorney. They handcuffed the victims, duct taped their eyes and mouths, and tied them to an anchor before shoving them overboard 55 miles offshore. Their bodies were never found.
Harris initially opposed taxpayer-funded transition surgery while representing the state as attorney general in court in a battle with a trans inmate who was seeking a sex change. State and federal courts would later establish precedents requiring procedures in other cases, and California corrections officials later set their own guidelines for prisoners in the Golden State.
In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” Wednesday, the vice president was asked if she “still supported” spending taxpayer money on prisoners and detained illegal immigrants seeking trans treatments.
“I will follow the law,” she said. “And it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Mercer County, New Jersey, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 en route to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
However, during her failed 2020 campaign, she took credit for securing access to sex-change drugs and operations for California inmates in an interview with the National Center for Transgender Equality.
3RD-STRIKE ‘TRANS’ RAPE SUSPECT PROMPTS REBELLION AGAINST CA LAW AFTER ATTACK IN WOMEN’S PRISON
“When I was attorney general, I learned that the California Department of Corrections, which was a client of mine – I didn’t get to choose my clients … they were standing in the way of surgery for prisoners,” she told the organization in a 2019 interview.
“And there was a specific case. When I learned about the case, I worked behind-the-scenes to not only make sure that that transgender woman got the services she was deserving – it was not only about that case – I made sure that they changed the policy in the state of California so that every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access to the medical care that they desire and need.”
Skylar DeLeon talks to attorneys at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach, California, on March 4, 2004. (Glenn Koenig/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Golden State’s lenient treatment of trans inmates has prompted an uproar more than once. One inmate who claimed to be a trans female, Tremaine Deon Carroll, was transferred out of a women’s prison after being indicted on two rape charges.
BIOLOGICAL MEN ARE NOW WELCOME IN CALIFORNIA WOMEN’S PRISONS: ‘AN AGENDA FOR FEMALE ERASURE’
The James “Hannah” Tubbs case in Los Angeles also prompted a deputy district attorney to come forward with whistleblower allegations after the convicted child molester and killer was released from a prior sentence in an adult male prison to juvenile custody in LA, where he began identifying as a female and joked about gaining access to underage girls.
He is currently being held in a men’s prison after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge for beating his friend to death with a rock over $100.
Newport Beach Detective David Byington, wearing booties and gloves, walks through the kitchen area of the yacht Well Deserved in Newport Beach, California, on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Amie Ichikawa, the executive director and a founding member of Woman II Woman, a Christian rehabilitation group for women re-entering society after prison, told Fox News Digital that she had feared for DeLeon’s ex-wife back in 2021, when trans inmate transfers to female prisons picked up.
“She was among the women who I feared for the most – the ones with ex-husbands who decided to transition,” she said, arguing that women’s facilities are inherently less secure.
Jennifer Henderson DeLeon is seen in this undated handout picture. (REUTERS/Orange County Sheriff’s Department)
“There is no equivalent security level to men’s death row in any women’s prison,” she said. “[Central California Women’s Facility] is basically the same as a men’s level 2 as far as staffing, safety and funding is concerned.”
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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San Francisco, CA
Multiple people lose eyes, hands in illegal fireworks-related injuries in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco emergency departments and first responders experienced a sharp increase in serious injuries over the Fourth of July weekend, with illegal fireworks and electric scooter crashes contributing to some of the busiest days in recent years.
At Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, medical teams treated a wave of patients suffering severe trauma. In one incident, bystanders rushed to help a person who was bleeding heavily after a hand injury. A 911 dispatcher described the call as “Extreme Trauma. Hand injury.”
Dr. Christopher Colwell, chief of emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, said surgeons worked to treat patients with devastating injuries.
“We are able to do a lot with and sometimes save the function of the hand and eye. Unfortunately, there are injuries that exist every year where we are not able to do that even with the expertise that we have,” Colwell said.
MORE: SF police in riot gear crack down on 4th of July illegal fireworks shows: ‘It was crazy’
According to Dr. Colwell, four people lost eyes, five lost hands and at least 15 people suffered serious injuries related to electric scooters over the weekend.
“We saw a lot of electric scooter accidents. And I think part of it was that their traffic was such that that was a more efficient way of getting around town. But we also learned very clearly that the combination of electric scooters and how fast you can go in San Francisco, particularly going downhill along with not wearing a helmet and adding alcohol on board, is a really bad combination,” Colwell said.
ABC7’s data team reviewed San Francisco EMT data and found that medical incidents on July 4 and July 5 were about double the number reported during the same period in 2025.
Lt. Mariano Elias of the San Francisco Fire Department said emergency crews handled significantly more calls than usual.
“We had almost 200 more calls than we normally have so we had roughly 576 calls in a 24-hour period,” Elias said.
MORE: Over 400 people arrested during chaos at Newport Beach July 4th celebrations, police say
Illegal fireworks activity also sparked fires across the city. Firefighters responded to Telegraph Hill, where crews quickly contained a blaze.
“We did have two house fires that night on the 4th of July, due to fireworks activities,” Elias said.
City officials estimated that more than 100,000 people were in San Francisco to watch Fourth of July fireworks, creating traffic congestion that complicated ambulance response efforts.
“All the gridlock between, people coming and going from, the Golden Gate Bridge. The city was very impacted on the streets. So that was an issue. The one particular ambulance did, involve themselves in an accident. So, someone hit the ambulance. So that patient had to be transported and moved to a different ambulance,” Elias said.
First responders warned that illegal fireworks activity typically continues for days after the Fourth of July and urged the public not to take unnecessary risks.
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Denver, CO
House fire in Denver fully engulfs power pole, detached garage mostly destroyed
DENVER (KKTV) – Colorado firefighters prevented a fire from spreading to a home in Denver late Monday afternoon after it fully engulfed a power pole and destroyed most of a detached garage.
Adams County Fire Rescue said crews responded to a house fire in the 8300 block of Nueva Vista Drive, near Coronado Hills Elementary School, around 5 p.m.
Firefighters said when crews arrived, they saw heavy smoke from behind the home in a detached garage, as well as a fully engulfed power pole.
The incident was soon upgraded to a second-alarm fire, firefighters said.
The fire destroyed most of the detached garage, part of a shed as well as nearby fences and vehicles, firefighters said. The fire did not spread to the actual home.
The residents of the home had evacuated the area when firefighters arrived, and crews helped evacuate the four surrounding homes, firefighters said.
Firefighters said Xcel Energy crews were called to shut off the power lines in the area.
Firefighters said there were no injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation as of Tuesday morning.
Copyright 2026 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Seattle, WA
WEST SEATTLE SCENE: Stranded dog’s rocky rescue
Thanks to Susan for the photo. She called to tell us about a dog stuck on the rocks off Beach Drive near Harbor West (the condos on pilings), and a crowd gathering to figure out how to rescue it from the rising tide. We were away from the desk at the time but after returning a little while later, we heard the situation mentioned on police radio, with word the dog had been rescued, so we didn’t head that way. Then late tonight Susan sent photos, explaining that the dog apparently is known to swim to those rocks and back, but for some reason got stuck this time, “until a paddle boarder and kayaker paddled out to it to coax it off the rocks and back to the shore.”
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