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Parole Changes for Juvenile Offenders

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Reporter: Hannah Saunders

Since hearing the Supreme Court's decision, Lori Black has kept herself busy at work, trying not to remind herself that the boy who killed her daughter, now has better odds at being released from prison, and crossing her path.

"This is certainly not a person I want to encounter. I don't really know what we can do now," said Black.

15-year-old Charles Lewis Jr. was sentenced in April by Ingham County Judge George Economy to prison for his part in the murder of 19-year-old Shayla Johnson.

Because Lewis was 13 at the time of the murder, Ingham County Judge Economy ruled to revisit the case when Lewis turns 21, when he would decide whether to let him go free, or extend his sentence to life without parole. Now, Lewis must have the chance for parole.

Judge Economy explains: "The Supreme Court of the United States is now saying, if you have a child who commits a very serious crime, it is a violation of the constitution of the United States, which says, sentencing that child to imprisonment without a chance of parole would be cruel and unusual punishment."

The vote was as close as it could get: 5-4, with those for the change allowing for the possibility of minors like Lewis to have a change of character.

Those against, wanted to leave those decisions in the hands of each individual state.

As for the fate of Lewis, Black now feels like she will never be able to relax again; always worrying about when he could be let out: "Every review every six months, every hearing that comes between those six months, I will definitely be present."

Believing that, child or not, a mind capable of so much violence probably can't change.

Michigan places second in the country for the number of inmates serving time for crimes they've committed under the age of 18, with a total of 358. Judge Economy tells us, the few of those offenders who had been sentenced to life without parole will now have their cases revisited.