CAMPO, Calif. (KGTV) - An East County family is reeling after learning the hit-and-run driver who killed their loved one will be released from prison after serving less than a third of his sentence.
This week, Aubree Pinkston received an email from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that felt like "a punch in the gut" – notification that Gary Baker, the man who killed her partner Austin Spirz in a Thanksgiving night crash, will be released in February after serving only about a year and eight months of his five-year, four-month sentence.
"Panic, like I was reliving it all over again," Pinkston said about her reaction to the email. "I read it, straight emotions, and started crying."
Spirz, 26, was killed on Thanksgiving night 2023 while riding his dirt bike on Campo Road. The father of three daughters had been Pinkston's partner for a decade.
Baker later pleaded guilty to hit-and-run and several other charges, receiving the five-year, four-month prison sentence in June 2024. However, Pinkston learned from Baker's parole officer that the sentence was cut short due to good behavior, with no hearing scheduled for the decision.
"It's kind of a slap in the face, honestly. Shows everybody you can get away with this," Pinkston said. "Just shows he's just another number, statistic. It doesn't give him justice."
The early release comes as Pinkston and supporters continue advocating for Austin's Law, legislation that would increase penalties for hit-and-run crashes causing serious injury or death from a maximum of four years to a minimum of 15 years. Signs reading "Justice for Austin" have appeared throughout the community as part of the campaign.
"You just get let down. The justice system failed us," Pinkston said.
Despite the setback, Pinkston plans to write letters opposing Baker's early release and will continue pushing for Austin's Law, which is expected to be reintroduced in the state Assembly early next year.
"We're going to write letters, opposing it. Very least, we can say we tried," she said. "I want to make a difference for somebody else. We will keep up the fight, no matter how hard it is."
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