Murder victim's family outraged after finding convicted killer on Facebook

LA PALMA, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of a 16-year-old girl who was stabbed to death in 1995 was outraged to find her convicted killer on Facebook.

Mary Lewis was murdered 19 years ago, but for her family, it feels like yesterday. Last month, her sister typed her killer's name, Alan David Salomon, into Facebook just "to see" and was stunned by what she found.

"He has all these people saying all these positive things about him, and he killed a 16-year-old girl," Anita Lewis said.

Mary Lewis, 16, was found bleeding to death near the intersection of Acacia Parkway and Brookhurst Street in Garden Grove on June 20, 1995. Salomon, a known gang member, killed her during an argument as they rode in her family's car.

"He stabbed her 16 times and left her to die in the middle of a street," Anita Lewis said.

Salomon was sentenced to 15 years to life for murder. So imagine their surprise when they found that Salomon was on Facebook.

"He's sitting there gloating on Facebook, about 'chilling' and all this stuff. My sister can't do that. It's just thoroughly disgusting that he's able to do that," Mary Lewis' brother, Robert Lewis said.

"To see him in a picture hugging his mother, that hurts, that tears my heart out 'cause I think of my mom, and my mom will never get that," Anita Lewis said.

Anita Lewis alerted the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, which is now working with Facebook to take the page down. Prison officials found a cellphone during a search of Salomon's cell. An inmate can lose up to 90 days of credits for the violation.

Facebook accounts set up and or monitored on behalf of an inmate are a violation of Facebook's user policies. At this point, officials are unsure if Salomon set up the account or if it was set up by a third party. Either way, officials say, the account will be shut down, but not soon enough for Mary Lewis' family.

"That's a way that they make veiled threats to people, that's a way that they re-victimize their victims, and they just basically say, 'hey, I killed your loved one, I hurt your loved one and I'm gonna laugh about it,'" Robert Lewis said.

Inmates are allowed to have a Facebook profile that they created prior to incarceration, but their accounts cannot be active while they are behind bars. But prison officials say that with a major influx of illegal cellphones in prison, social media has become a serious problem.