Two tried in San Diego could be among next executed

There are nearly 750 inmates on death row in California, where 13 men have been executed since 1978. The last one was nearly a decade ago, and the system has been embroiled in legal challenges ever since. At least 16 have exhausted their appeals and could be executed if the state adopts a new single-drug protocol and resumes capital punishment. Of those 16 inmates, two were tried and convicted in San Diego County:

Richard Samayoa, 62

Samayoa was convicted in 1988 of fatally bludgeoning a south San Diego neighbor and her daughter in December 1985.

The victims were Nelia Olaya Silva, 33, and her child, Katherine, 2, who interrupted the killer during a burglary of Silva’s home.

According to previous reports, Samayoa admitted to police that he entered the Silva home intending to steal something he could sell. He said he was frustrated because he had been unable to find a job. He said he swung a wrench at Silva and hit the child inadvertently.

According to the evidence in Samoyoa’s trial, the woman was struck in the face a number of times and the baby was hit at least three times.

Kevin Cooper, 57

Cooper was convicted of murdering four people in Chino Hills in 1983 after escaping from the California Institute for Men, where he was serving time for burglary. He was tried in San Diego because of publicity about the case in San Bernardino County.

The victims were Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41; their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica; and the girl’s 11-year-old friend, Christopher Hughes. They were killed with a hatchet and knife. The Ryens’ 8-year-old son Joshua’s throat was slashed, and he survived.

Cooper came within hours of dying by lethal injection in 2004, until an appeals court ordered DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene.