Open Vallejo has won the Golden State Journalism Award for Social Justice and Equity Reporting for uncovering a man’s death in Vallejo police custody that the city kept secret for nearly a decade.
The Sacramento Press Club award honors “exceptional reporting about political and policy-driven efforts to combat social injustice and other discrimination across race, class, gender identity, and more.”
Open Vallejo was recognized for its 2024 article, “The secret death of Darryl Dean Mefferd.” Published last June, the investigation revealed for the first time how Vallejo Police Ofc. Jeremy Callinan held Mefferd on his stomach in the parking lot of a mental health facility until he stopped breathing in December 2016. Callinan then failed to call for an ambulance for several minutes, as Mefferd lay dying beneath him.
The Solano County Coroner’s Office ruled Mefferd’s death a drug overdose, allowing local officials to keep the incident a secret for nearly a decade. But three experts in forensic pathology who reviewed the facts of Mefferd’s case told Open Vallejo that they would have likely ruled his death a homicide.
Last week, Open Vallejo reported on new records that four California law enforcement agencies — with the exception of Vallejo police — have since released about Mefferd’s killing. The records include body camera footage from multiple officers at the scene, which depicts Mefferd groaning and screaming in distress as a Vallejo police officer holds him in a prone position that law enforcement agencies have long recognized as potentially lethal. The footage also revealed Mefferd’s last words: “I can’t breathe. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I can’t breathe.”
Vallejo is actively fighting the production of records in an ongoing public records lawsuit this newsroom brought against the city in 2021.
The award marks the fifth year that the Sacramento Press Club has recognized California-based journalists and media for reporting that explores the impacts of state policies across California.
Since 2020, Open Vallejo has earned 14 national and regional journalism awards, including three Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the University of Southern California’s Selden Ring Special Citation for Investigative Reporting, and two Institute for Nonprofit News Community Champion Awards.
