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UTAH STATE PRISON — A man who was sentenced to prison in 2015 for stabbing a Stansbury Park High school student to death was recently granted parole and released.
But the family of 17-year-old Jesse Horowitz feel they've now been victimized for a second time, not only because Larry Beach is out of prison, but because they were never notified of his parole hearing so they could attend and have the chance to speak to the Board of Pardons and Parole.
"I am angry at the system," said Matt Horowitz, Jesse's father, while appearing to hold back tears. "You've gotta change the system. … We should have been notified and been able to go."
Back on April 26, 2014, two groups gathered outside a Stansbury Park Elementary School for a fight in the middle of the night. Beach, who was 20 at the time, was there to support another person who had asked him to come to act as backup if needed. As a precaution, Beach brought his knife with him.
At the conclusion of the fight, Beach – who admitted to have been heavily drinking that night, began yelling at others in the crowd. That led to a fight with Jesse Horowitz who had been a bystander up to that point.
"I was just really running my mouth," Beach said in a recording of his parole hearing. "When he hit me that first time, I blacked out. I didn't even remember the incident until I read all the (court documents) and really came to terms with what I'd actually done."
Investigators say Horowitz was stabbed seven to nine times and was killed.
Beach was convicted of manslaughter and obstructing justice, both second-degree felonies. He was sentenced in 2015 to two to 20 years at the Utah State Prison on the manslaughter conviction and one to 15 years for the obstruction, and given credit for the time he had spent in jail after his arrest. The sentences were ordered to run consecutively, meaning the time for one sentence would not begin until the first sentence ended.
The Horowitz family believed that meant Beach would be incarcerated at least 15 years and up to 35 years. But when going over the charges during his first parole hearing on May 11, Board of Pardons and Parole Chairwoman Carrie Cochran noted that based on the matrix guidelines the board is given to work with, Beach could have been released in 2018.
According to the Board of Pardons website regarding length of sentences, "The board's staff calculates a guideline using the sentencing guidelines and instructions created by the Utah Sentencing Commission. All sentences imposed and being served at the same time are included in this calculation." The guidelines are not binding.
During his recent parole hearing, Beach, now 27, recounted the incident and talked about how he had moved to Utah barely two weeks earlier to try and turn his life around. Despite having good family support, Beach said he struggled with feelings of not being accepted by his peers and started using marijuana while in middle school. In high school, he started drinking more and after high school, he worked in the oil fields but started using Spice, he said.
On the night of the killing, Beach said he had been drinking. While at the fight, he admitted he was "hyped up" and "trying to stir something up" by "calling everybody names."
"I wasn't thinking. That was one of my biggest problems … was acting like an idiot. There was no rhyme nor reason behind it," he told Cochran of his actions that night.
Since his incarceration, Beach said he's thought a lot about why he would do what he did. He believes it went back to his insecurities about wanting to be accepted and he didn't want to feel like a coward that night by backing down.
"And in the end, I really feel like I was a coward," he said.
After seven years of incarceration at the prison — which Cochran noted had been "disciplinary free" — Beach said he's a new person.
"It's a weird thing to say you've grown up in prison because there's usually a negative connotation behind it. But I feel like prison has … helped me in growing (into) a man," he said. "The old me is gone. I've done nothing but try to recreate my image."
Among the many classes he's taken since being in prison, Beach said a one-year drug treatment program "was the best thing that's ever happened in my life."
"I feel like I wouldn't be where I'm at today without the program," he said.
Beach said he also learned in prison the difference between sympathy and empathy, something he said he never realized he didn't know. Anger and stress management classes have also been helpful, as well as learning not to put too much weight into what others think of him, he said.
While in prison, Beach's grandmother, with whom he was extremely close, died in 2017. He said several times during his hearing that her death also had a huge impact on him and his decision to turn his life around.
Beach also apologized to the Horowitz family during his hearing.
"There's no words in the English language to express how sorry I am. I can't imagine how it would be to lose your son, especially your only son, in a situation like that. I can't imagine how they have to feel to this day. It's not something that goes away," he said.
Beach said he would like the chance, one day, to talk to Jesse Horowitz's parents to express "how eternally sorry" he is.
"I don't know if they would ever forgive me. How do you ask for forgiveness for something like that?" Beach asked. "I really wish I could talk to them one day and give them some type of closure."
Cochran said during the hearing that Horowitz family had not contacted the Board of Pardons about speaking, but also noted that letters the family wrote in 2015 in which they were "adamant" about Beach remaining in prison would be considered by the full five members board when they decided whether to grant parole.
But Matt Horowitz said the only reason he didn't attend the hearing was that he never knew about it.
After Beach was originally sentenced, Horowitz said he promised to attend all of Beach's parole hearings.
"I said, I don't care how old I am. If I'm in a wheelchair, I'm going to show up and let everybody know what you did to my son," he said.
The board voted to grand Beach parole and he was released from prison on Tuesday. He was expected to immediately return to Texas where he will be supervised under an interstate compact.
Matt Horowitz said he first found out about Beach's parole when his wife, Darcy, received a recorded phone call from VINE, an automated victim notification and information system.
"Larry Beach has been granted parole," the robocall told them.
"I'm like, what?" Matt Horowitz told KSL-TV.
He initially thought the call was a mistake. His family has moved out of state since his son's death, but his phone number has remained the same. The VINE system, however, is not connected to the Utah board and information between the two isn't shared.
The Board of Pardons later issued a prepared statement on why the Horowitz family was not contacted.
"In this situation, the board sent notification letters to two addresses available for Jesse's family prior to the hearing. One of which was returned. On this basis, the Board reasonably presumed that the family had received notification through the other letter that was not returned.
"For crime victims who want to participate in board hearings, we never want that opportunity to be denied or missed. However, we have to rely on the contact information that is provided to us. In order to be involved, it is so essential that address information is updated with the Board, so that we can make contact and notification as requested," the board stated.
As for why the Horowitz family was not contacted by phone, the board stated, "it is not the board's practice to make initial contact by phone as it may re-traumatize a victim who does not want further involvement. Second, the board did not have a telephone number for the victims in this case. Although Utah's justice system contracts with a private provider that can make telephone notifications for a variety of purposes, their system is independent of the board's records system. Again, missing any notification is not an outcome the board wants, and we are committed to working with others to find solutions to reduce this kind of outcome from occurring."
Matt Horowitz, however, is furious over what happened.
"My son's life was worth more than this. Jesse's life was worth more," he said.
