Kids Behind Bars: Life or Parole

Young Aaron’s friendship with Alana Calahan and her family was the antidote to a life that had been filled with abuse and instability until they took him in as one of their own. But then, when he and Alana were both 14, he tragically shot and killed her in an incident he says was an accident but the family insists was a malicious act of retribution. Now his lawyer is trying to convince the state of Georgia to re-examine his life without parole sentence.

15 year old Curtis was a homeless teen in a strange place when he met the three boys who would convince him to participate in a crime that led to the death of an innocent 24 year old man. After serving 23 years of his life without parole sentence, he will have a resentencing hearing that could see him released immediately.

In 2010, three boys in Ft. Walton Beach FL hatched a plan to use one of their grandparent’s guns to steal pot from a local 18 year old they knew, but the plan went terribly awry when 17 year old Preston Chavers decided to pull the trigger, killing Christopher Pitcock instantly. The three boys all received life without parole for the murder, and now all three are up for re-sentencing. Christopher’s family feels they’re all murderers whose sentences should stand, but the shooter Preston, along with his two co-defendants Kyle and Tyree are hoping that the court will see things differently.

Bobby was a 17 year old high school football player who was madly in love with his girlfriend Krissi despite the fact that her parents disapproved. Over time things escalated, and Krissi shared a dark secret that led Bobby to shoot her parents, killing one of them. Now after 25 years, he’s hoping to get the one lawyer who can help him show the Texas courts he’s rehabilitated and deserves a chance at release.

On August 21, 2001, a group of teens, including 15-year-old Brandon, kidnapped and raped Melissa, a 21-year-old college student in Youngstown, Ohio. Brandon was tried as an adult and sentenced to 141 years in prison without parole. Seventeen years later the Ohio Supreme Court agreed that Brandon's sentence is the equivalent of life without parole and therefore unconstitutional. He has been granted the opportunity for a new sentence.

James was a lifeguard and honour student who at 15 turned a shotgun on his step-mother and three brothers, shaking the small town of Thermopolis, Wyoming to its core. Now after 28 years behind bars James is a model prisoner who hopes his resentencing hearing will show that he committed his crime in a 2 minute fit of rage that shouldn’t define the rest of his life.

On March 31, 1998 in Albany, Georgia, 16-year-old Otis broke into Valerie's home and allegedly tried to rob her. During the attempt, Valerie and her 16-year-old daughter, Valene, were shot. Valerie died weeks later and although her daughter Valene miraculously survived, she was left disfigured. Otis was sentenced to life without parole. Otis has been granted a re-sentencing hearing, and hopes he can someday be released.

On February 2, 1999, 17-year-old Ronald and two other teens sought to retaliate against Cordell Richards for an alleged sexual assault ultimately burning him alive in the woods of Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Ronald, with the aid of his 16-year-old girlfriend Kristel, brutally tortured and murdered Cordell, and both were sentenced to life without parole. Ronald is now 36 years old, and has been granted a resentencing hearing.