She was 15 when she was placed on juvenile probation for killing
in Sacramento County.
asserted
she → place → County
Nearly five years later, she was arrested again — accused of dealing drugs from the UC Davis dorm room where she was serving out the remainder of her sentence, arrest records show.
asserted
records → arrest → sentence
Officers reported allegedly finding live ammunition hidden in a sock in her dresser, a digital scale, more than 100 plastic baggies, text messages appearing to show drug sales, and $4,121 in cash.
uncertain
Officers → find → cash
CBS California is not including her name in this article because she was a minor at the time of the original offense.
asserted
she → include → offense
She has not finished her sentence and was still under juvenile commitment when she was arrested as an adult in her UC Davis dorm room.
asserted
she → finish → room
Records reviewed by CBS California Investigates show she had served roughly three years in secure juvenile custody when a Sacramento County judge found she'd made enough progress to step her down into California's Less Restrictive Programming, or LRP.
asserted
she → review → Programming
The state program lets courts move young offenders out of secure facilities into community-based settings, from halfway houses to, in this case, a university dorm, before their sentence is complete.
asserted
sentence → let → dorm
She was released into the Underground Scholars program at UC Davis, a state-funded UC program for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.
asserted
She → release → students
She moved into campus housing in December 2025.
asserted
She → move → December
She was arrested in her dorm room seven months later.
asserted
She → arrest → room
This is the first story in what CBS California Investigates expects to be an ongoing series on the state's LRP system, as public records requests are fulfilled.
asserted
requests → expect → system
Ammunition allegedly found in a sock drawer
Her probation officer searched her dorm room July 29 and reported allegedly finding marijuana, boxes of vape cartridges, a digital scale, text messages and a price list appearing to show drug sales, cash and ammunition — all items
uncertain
officer → find → sales
conditions barred her from having
asserted
conditions → bar → her
She was charged as an adult in Yolo County with felony possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, misdemeanor possession of ammunition on school grounds, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana for sale, court records show.
asserted
records → charge → sale
She was arraigned July 31, pleaded not guilty, and posted a $25,000 bail bond in that case.
asserted
She → arraign → case
That case is separate from the probation violation she now faces in Sacramento County Juvenile Court, tied to her original 2021 case — two proceedings in two counties running in parallel, and her custody status under the juvenile matter is not addressed in the Yolo court record.
asserted
status → face → record
Her court order requires weekly meetings with Underground Scholars Director Gunner Johnson as a condition of her placement.
asserted
order → require → placement
CBS California Investigates has reached out to Johnson with a series of program-related questions.
asserted
Investigates → reach → questions
Featured as a success story
Months before her recent UC Davis arrest, California featured the 20-year-old student as a success story – proof the program works.
asserted
program → feature → story
Records show she was serving as a youth advocate for the Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR), the state agency that oversees the broader LRP system.
asserted
that → show → system
A March 2026 OYCR presentation names her in that role.
asserted
presentation → name → role
In 2021, a 17-year-old girl was convicted of murdering Fresno State student Sergio Bonboster.
asserted
girl → convict → Bonboster
His body was dismembered, burned and dumped in a canal.
asserted
body → dismember → canal
The teen, now in her 20s, was reportedly enrolled at Sacramento State last year – released under Project Rebound, the Cal State version of the UC system's Underground Scholars program.
uncertain
teen → enrol → program
The victim's family publicly protested her early release after serving just two years of her four-year murder sentence.
asserted
family → protest → sentence
Sacramento State did not confirm her enrollment, citing privacy.
asserted
State → confirm → privacy
In Los Angeles, a private company has been running a similar program in student housing on UCLA's sorority row, according to a California Post investigation.
uncertain
company → run → investigation
LA County paid the company $1.2 million in 2025 to house nine young adults.
asserted
County → pay → adults
A program with no headcount
Underground Scholars is one of three state-supported pathways moving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people into California higher education, alongside Cal State's Project Rebound and the Rising Scholars network, the community college system's version of the same program.
asserted
Scholars → support → program
Project Rebound enrolled 1,522 students statewide last year across 20 Cal State schools, according to publicly available information.
uncertain
Rebound → enrol → information
CBS California was unable to find a similar count for the Underground Scholars program on UC campuses.
asserted
California → find → campuses
We have requested that information from multiple sources.
asserted
We → request → sources
CBS California Investigates has filed multiple public records requests for the underlying contracts, funding records, and enrollment data behind this program.
asserted
Investigates → file → program
This is the first story to publish from that reporting; more will follow as records are received.
asserted
records → publish → reporting
What the state won't or can't tell us
California's Office of Youth and Community Restoration, or OYCR, oversees the LRP educational pathway programs that its director describes as a prison-to-university pipeline.
asserted
director → tell → pipeline
However, the agency could not tell us how many young people are enrolled in these programs, which schools they're at, and where the state funding goes.
uncertain
funding → tell → schools
Nor could the state provide recidivism or success rate data related to the total number of participants who violated probation, were arrested or who successfully completed the program.
uncertain
who → provide → program
The agency said that's a county-level responsibility, not the state's, and that collecting it centrally falls outside its authority.
asserted
collecting → say → authority
The agency's own public list of Underground Scholars partner campuses does not include UC Davis — the same campus where the young woman at the center of this story was placed.
asserted
woman → include → story
The agency itself featured her as a "youth advocate" in a state presentation earlier this year.
asserted
agency → feature → presentation
…and 12 more, not listed.
