Deleon’s struggle with gender identity surfaced publicly during criminal proceedings. While held in the Orange County Jail awaiting trial in 2007, Deleon attempted self-castration using a disposable razor, requiring emergency surgical intervention. Defense attorneys brought forward psychiatric reports establishing that Deleon suffered from profound gender dysphoria, seeking to explain the financial obsession that drove the killings.
Following Deleon's arrival at San Quentin State Prison, the legal and physical transition expanded. Deleon formally requested hormone therapy, took on the legal name Skylar Preciosa Deleon, and received medical clearance under state corrections protocols for transition treatment. California became the first state in the nation to set binding standards allowing incarcerated individuals to access gender-affirming medical procedures and state-funded surgery where clinically indicated.
Deleon’s identity transition triggered intense public debates. Victims' relatives, including Tom Hawks' son Ryan Hawks, expressed repeated frustration at taxpayer-funded medical interventions for an individual convicted of drowning an innocent couple. Despite persistent online rumors suggesting Deleon had completed full bottom surgery and relocated permanently into standard female facilities, prison administrators handle Deleon's housing through high-security medical protocols given the capital murder conviction.
