Resentencing juvenile killers an injustice to families of victims

When I was 9 years old, my grandmother was brutally murdered in her home in Clayton by a 17-year-old. The ongoing Supreme Court case regarding mandatory life sentences for juveniles is not treating the rights of victims and victim’s families with the appropriate level of respect.

In 2012 the court held in Miller v. Alabama that imposing an automatic life sentence without parole on someone younger than 18 was cruel and unusual punishment and a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Now, the court is considering whether that should be applied retroactively.

Sandra Hopper Manly, whom I always called “Hot Tea Grandma,” had been living with my family in Raleigh up until a few weeks before she was murdered. She was 60 and battling cancer. She was strong and independent – even to the point of stubbornness. She decided that she wanted to live out her remaining time peacefully in the comfort of her own home.

But her time was cut short when Delmonte Percell Jefferson Jr. stabbed and beat her to death. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

That was nearly 15 years ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about my Hot Tea Grandma and how things might be different were she still alive. In September, the district attorney of Johnston County notified my dad that Jefferson was to have a hearing – in just two days’ time. My dad along with his sister and a couple other family members managed to attend.

Reviewing juvenile cases

Jefferson’s case is being reviewed due to Miller v. Alabama. If the Supreme Court decides Miller should be applied retroactively, then juveniles sentenced to life without parole before the ruling could receive sentence reviews.

I am probably not the typical relative of a murder victim. I do not stand by the philosophy “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” I think of Jefferson and his family and pray for them often. However, I am seeking justice for my grandmother, me and my family.

A common argument for banning life without parole is that these juveniles’ brains aren’t fully developed. I understand that the details and context of each case are different. But I also understand common sense.

My grandmother’s killer was nine months from turning 18 when he committed his crime. It confuses me that people can confidently argue that he “didn’t know any better” or that his brain was not developed enough to know not to break into someone’s home and stab and beat a woman (who weighed less than 100 pounds) to death. Would those nine months really have made a difference in Jefferson’s ability to determine the morality of murdering a frail, cancer-ridden woman?

I teach third grade. Occasionally, one of my students will poke or shove another student. The second I catch them, these 8-year-olds look down to the ground in remorse and apologize. Why? Because even 8-year-olds know that using violence to hurt someone else is wrong.

Jefferson made not one but a series of extremely poor decisions. After breaking into the home and realizing the occupant was home, he could have run away. He could have chosen to use less force – push her down, tie her up or even knock her unconscious. Instead, he chose to beat her and stab her to death. Then he chose to steal less than $40 and the credit cards of the woman he had just murdered. Poll a group of 17-year-olds. Will these young men and women see this as a morally ambiguous situation?

The morning Jefferson murdered my grandmother, he violated the most precious human right: the right to life. Please do not violate my rights, my family’s rights and the rights of so many other victims by allowing juvenile offenders who committed heinous crimes (albeit as minors) the ability to be resentenced. Speak to the members of a victim’s family; they will undoubtedly tell you that the violent murder of a loved one is not something that becomes easier to deal with over time.

Families who have suffered greatly and who continue to suffer should, at the very least, be afforded a measure of legal finality. Families want to remember their loved ones as they lived and loved – not how they died. Allowing the law to be applied retroactively will force tens of thousands of people to relive the traumatic deaths of their loved ones, again and again, for as long as the legal process drags on, which would be not only a gross failure on the part of the justice system but, more fundamentally, a failure of humanity.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Resentencing juvenile killers an injustice to families of victims."