In our collective recent memory there have been a number of horrific tragedies that shook our community to its very core. The East Coldenham School Disaster was certainly one of those tragedies that lives with us to this day, as does 9-11.

So, too, was a heartbreaking event that occurred on June 15, 1996 in Maybrook.

On that morning, Danny Meyer, an 11 year old, left his home in Country Club Heights for Veteran’s Park and his Little League game. He never made it.

Hours later, after his parents reported him missing, the body of Danny Meyer was found by a group of local children in a wooded area often used as a shortcut to the ballpark. He had been brutally stabbed 11 times and left to die in the woods. Three days later, Juan Miguel Peinado, 22, also of Country Club Heights, was formally charged with murder. He confessed to the killing during an interview with police. No motive was ever established.

Peinado was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He was denied parole two years ago, on the 25th anniversary of the murder, thanks in large part to public outcry within the Town of Montgomery and an online petition demanding justice. He is once again eligible for parole and will have the same opportunity every two years. If it is granted, he may face deportation to Guatemala, since he is believed to have entered the U.S. illegally.

The gruesome murder sent a chill through an entire community. Danny was in every way the All American Boy. He was a Boy Scout, Little Leaguer and a churchgoer. Scores of Boy Scouts turned out in uniform at his funeral. His murder was a sad reminder to the community that the unthinkable can happen. A child can leave the house with his baseball glove and never return home again.

In their grief, the Maybrook community built a playground and named it for Danny Meyer. It helped ease their grief, but not the memory of the boy or the horrible event that claimed his life. To this day, the Scout band, of which Danny was a member, plays O Danny Boy at parades and other events. When one listens, one cannot help but think that were he still alive, Danny Meyer could have been a father to one of those young scouts.

That life that was taken from us will not be restored if his killer is allowed to walk free. That is not the justice that Danny’s family and extended family deserve. His killer cannot be allowed to go free.

Assemblyman Brian Maher (R,C-Walden), family and childhood friends of Danny Meyer are launching an online petition and letter-writing campaign to keep Juan Peinado behind bars.

Maher encourages people to both sign the petition and write personal letters to the parole board:

• Sign the petition: tinyurl.com/JusticeforDanny2023
• Write a letter online to the NYS Board of Parole: doccs.ny.gov/form/letters-in-support-or-opposition. Please be sure to include Juan Peinado’s corrections identification number, DIN: 97A7185.
• Write and mail a physical letter directly to the prison’s parole department: Great Meadow Correctional Facility, 11739 NY – 22, Comstock, NY 12821, Attn: Parole Department, SORC Zimmerman
Please sign or write if you believe in justice.