MADERA COUNTY – A Fresno woman, convicted on Mar. 24, 1983 of first degree murder has been denied parole for at least the next three years, according to Madera County District Attorney Michael R. Keitz.
Jackie Skeels, 53, was convicted of drowning her boyfriend’s 9-year-old son, Steven Brown, in the San Joaquin River on Aug. 23, 1982.Skeels and her co-conspirators, Michael Cooper and Lupe Gonzalez, coaxed the victim into the water where they sang “Happy Death Day to You” before drowning him.
Skeels later reported the child missing during a shopping trip to K-Mart which sparked an intensive search. The child’s body was later discovered in Madera County next to the river.
On Feb. 14, prosecutor Linda Dunn of the Madera County District Attorney’s Office was able to convince the Board of Parole Hearings that Skeels was still too dangerous to be released into society. Her suitability for parole will be reexamined in three years.
