Teen Killers Essay
Should teens who commit murder be locked away for life or is this cruel and unusual punishment? Teens who commit murder should be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Physical and mental health of the guilt party should be taken into consideration, however people should pay for any crime committed no matter what age. According to a cite called, TeenKillers.com Since 1990, a total of 3,632 youths who were 14-years-old or younger were arrested for homicide, yet only 58 of them received life without parole, or less than two percent. The other 3,574 teen murderers are either already out on the streets or eventually will be. Allowing these people back onto the streets is dangerous for themselves and others. There is the possibility that they will kill again, or someone could even kill them to make them pay for what they did. There is no telling what could happen after putting a murderer back into society. If these criminals killed someone during teen years, its scary for people to think about what they could be capable of when they reach maturity. After a human being reaches a certain age, they gain common sense, they know what is going on in their life, and the difference between what is right and what is wrong becomes very clear and apparent. Holly Harvey was 15-years-old and was “in love” with her girlfriend, Sandra Ketchum. Holly lived with her 74, and 73-year-old grandparents. Her grandparents were religious people who wanted Holly to begin attending church services with them, and especially wanted Holly to stop seeing Sandra. Holly was sick of being controlled by her grandparents so her and her girlfriend devised a plan to kill them. Holly wrote on her arm, “kill, keys, money and jewelry”. The two teens successfully fulfilled their plan, stabbing Holly’s grandmother a total of 20 times in the chest and back., and stabbing Holly’s grandfather a total of 15 times in the chest and neck. Holly Harvey was knowledgeable, and mature
Cited: David Lieb. "Alyssa Bustamante, Missouri Teenager, Describes Killing As 'Ahmazing ' And 'Pretty Enjoyable '." huffingtonpost.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/alyssa-bustamante-killing-ahmazing-enjoyable_n_1258579.htm. Phil Chalmers. "Life Without Parole for Juveniles Killers in Question." TeenKillers.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://teenkillers.com/?p=627. Racheal Bell. "Part One - Holly Harvey and Sandra Ketchum "Kill, Keys, Money and Jewelry"." Trutv.com. n.p., 19 April 2012. Web. [**Accessed**]. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/teen_killers/index.html.