LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Family and friends of a young woman killed are hoping a petition will help keep the person responsible for her death behind bars.
For Savannah Millner’s loved ones, the wounds from her death nearly six years ago are still fresh.
“As time fades, the memories go further back,” her friend Janelle Adymy says. “It makes grief so much harder when they’re taken from you.”
Millner’s mother, Debra Meola, recounts missed birthdays and family members gone unmet.
“She would have been 30 years old on March 28 this year,” Meola says. “My son had children, two little girls. She didn’t get to see them.”
According to court records, in 2021 Steven Clifford entered an Alford Plea to voluntary manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon. An Alford Plea essentially means he didn’t admit guilt, but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him.
Clifford was sentenced to six to 20 years. On Monday, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners is scheduled to discuss whether or not to grant him parole.
“Why does he get to be free? Why does he get to breathe air? He killed her,” Meola says.
As of Friday afternoon, nearly 2,500 others agree. Adymy started a petition, encouraging the board to deny his parole, and the community responded in droves.
“Steven should not be awarded the same freedom that he took from Savannah,” Adymy says. “He would basically get to start his life over and live a whole new life, and we’re still going to be grieving forever.”
In a statement, the Executive Director of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners, Kathi Baker, said she is “not able to comment specifically on how petitions factor into the decision making.”
“The Board welcomes all available information on inmates being considered for parole, favorable and unfavorable and considers the impact on the victim and/or community.”
She also said they use a risk assessment, which considers factors like age at arrest, prior convictions and history of drug and alcohol abuse.
Adymy and Meola say a group of Millner’s loved ones plan to attend the hearing on Monday with the petition in their hands, and hope in their hearts.
“People are watching, people are serious about it,” Adymy says.
In July 2019, Metro Police arrested Clifford after they found Millner with a gunshot wound in Downtown Las Vegas. Millner, 24-years-old, died on scene.
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