California Teen Gets Prison Sentence

A California teenager who was 15 at the time he killed his adoptive parents in Oakland received a 25 year prison sentence last December. The boy had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his adoptive mother and first-degree murder in the death of his adoptive father. He was charged as an adult. The murders took place at the family home in Oakland in January of 2012 after the boy was suspended from school for smoking marijuana. Stating that he didn't want to deal with their upset, the boy killed his parents with a chokehold he had learned through martial arts training. He had been adopted by the couple when he was six years old. The defense attorney in the case asserted that his client killed the couple because he felt they posed an obstacle to him reuniting with his birth mother and siblings. The prosecutor, however, put forth the case that the murder was premeditated.

Second-degree murder is generally defined as an intentional act that is not premeditated, planned, nor done in the heat of the moment. It does, however, show a lack of concern and respect for another's life. First-degree murder is generally defined as a murder which is planned, therefore willful, deliberate, and premeditated. Juveniles above the age of 14 who commit serious felony crimes, such as in the above case, are often charged and tried as adults in California.

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