Suspect in Officer’s Killing Tells Mother He’s Not Safe

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Buena Park convict accused of gunning down Garden Grove Police Officer Howard E. Dallies Jr. called his mother from jail Thursday and said he fears for his safety.

“He says he’s OK, that they’re treating him OK so far, but he’s afraid,” Penny Hamilton said from her Midwest home. “He knows everybody wants a piece of him right now.”

John J.C. Stephens, 26, was arrested this week in the March 9, 1993, killing of Dallies, ending an intensive, four-year investigation that culminated in the suspect’s highly publicized return to Orange County on Wednesday.

At the time of his arrest, Stephens was in prison after a December 1993 conviction for assaulting a Westminster man during a residential robbery.

Stephens was initially questioned by detectives in the Dallies case, but a lack of evidence at the time forced police to follow thousands of other leads before returning to Stephens as the main suspect.

The defendant called his mother from the Huntington Beach Jail, where he’ll probably remain until his arraignment today.

Officials said Stephens will likely be transferred to the Orange County Men’s Jail after his court hearing, a prospect that Hamilton said her son is particularly worried about.

“He does not want to be at that jail,” Hamilton said. “He’s made that clear. He thinks he may get hurt there.”

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Sheriff’s officials said they have not been notified when or if the move will take place, or what type of custody arrangements would be made for Stephens.

Orange County Public Defender Alan J. Crivaro declined comment on the case against his client, saying he had yet to review the details.

Hamilton said her son was scheduled for release from prison this weekend and planned to return to his wife and child in Arkansas.

The arrest “sunk it all,” Hamilton said.

She and other family members accuse officials of using Stephens as a scapegoat in a high-profile slaying they could never solve.

Said Floyd Joe Luster, the suspect’s grandfather: “They did it all to save face. If they are so sure, why did they wait this long” to charge him?

Hamilton said she doesn’t deny her son’s criminal history and drug use, but cannot believe the son she calls Jay is capable of murder.

Grief-stricken, she said she can’t stop thinking about the boy who had a penchant for his grandmother’s homemade cookies, used to make a buck mowing the lawn and could spend hours tinkering with cars and motorcycles.

Relatives said Stephens, who was born in Idaho and moved with his parents to Buena Park, was diagnosed in middle school with dyslexia. He had trouble learning to read and write and was subjected to relentless teasing by classmates.

“He had a temper and eventually it just got to a point where he said, ‘Forget this,’ ” Hamilton said. “He gave up in school. He started running with the wrong crowd.”

He also witnessed violence at home between his parents, which Hamilton suspects contributed to her son’s battles with drugs.

“I can’t change what happened in the past and I know Jay has done a lot of things,” said Hamilton, who is now divorced. “But lying to me isn’t one of them and I know he didn’t kill that cop.”

Police say the evidence shows Stephens was a career criminal. At the time of Dallies’ shooting, Stephens was wanted on a weapons charge and for driving with a suspended license. He was also allegedly riding a stolen motorcycle when Dallies stopped him.

Police have said the motive for the shooting was to escape arrest.

Around the time of the killing, Stephens was investigated in three separate assaults. In each case, the victims chose not to press charges.

One of those reported attacks came three days after Dallies, 36, was shot. Stephens was accused of firing a weapon at a man, police said.

Hamilton refuses to believe her son is guilty of murder, instead remembering how when she injured her back years ago Stephens made sure the sidewalk was clear of snow and ice and walked her gingerly around the house.

“He always had a good heart,” Hamilton said. “You never had to ask him to do anything for you because he was always one step ahead.”