Two young murderers to be resentenced after appeal
Oklahoma’s youngest murderers can no longer be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole unless they are found to be “irreparably corrupt and permanently incorrigible.”
A divided Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals established the new restrictions in rulings made Friday in two high-profile murder cases.
The first ruling involved a murderer who was 16 at the time. The second involved a murderer who was 17 at the time. Both must be resentenced, the appeals court ruled.
In both cases, the appeals court concluded the punishment of life without parole “is constitutionally infirm” because jurors were
not presented evidence involving “important youth-related considerations.”
In making that conclusion, the appeals court pointed to U.S. Supreme Court decisions against cruel and unusual punishment for juvenile offenders.
The appeals court came up with a new instruction to be given to juries in future murder cases involving a defendant who was under age 18 at the time of the crime.
Jurors will be told “no person who committed a crime as a juvenile may be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole unless you find beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant is irreparably corrupt and permanently incorrigible.”
A murderer sentenced to a life term, with a chance at parole, is eligible for consideration under current law after spending 38 years and three months in prison.
Motive remains unclear
In the first case, the appeals court ordered a resentencing for Chancey Allen Luna, now 19, of Duncan. He admitted to fatally shooting an Australian jogger in 2013 in Duncan.
A jury in 2015 found Luna guilty, rejecting his attorney’s claim that he only had been trying to scare the jogger. Jurors chose a life term with no parole as punishment.
Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks said he will ask a new jury to again choose a life term with no parole.
“While we are disappointed in the decision, we will abide by it and move forward,” Hicks said. “We are confident in our evidence and look forward to once again presenting it to a jury.”
The victim, Christopher Lane, 22, was from Melbourne, Australia. He was in Oklahoma on a college baseball scholarship and was in Duncan visiting his girlfriend, Sarah Harper. He was shot in the back just before 3 p.m. Aug. 16, 2013, while jogging along Country Club Road in north Duncan.
The drive-by shooting quickly became known across the country and overseas as a thrill killing after Duncan’s police chief said another teenager, the car’s driver, had revealed their motive was boredom. Prosecutors, though, told the jury at the trial they don’t know Luna’s motive.
In the second case, the appeals court ordered a resentencing for Tucker Ryan McGee, now 22, of Weatherford. He fatally shot JaRay Wilson, 16, of Weatherford, after smoking synthetic marijuana with her in October 2012.
A Custer County jury in 2015 found McGee guilty of first-degree murder and chose the punishment of life in prison without parole.
The case was widely publicized because the victim’s body was not discovered for more than a year. One widespread rumor about her disappearance was that she was sold into human trafficking. Her photo appeared on Oklahoma billboards.
Custer County District Attorney Angela Marsee said Friday, “At this point, after talking with both the parents of the victim, I expect that we will also proceed in requesting life without parole, again.”
She said McGee is entitled to a jury trial on the issue but he could ask that a judge make the decision alone.
In both cases, the appeals court ruled the resentencing must determine whether the crime reflects a transient immaturity or an irreparable corruption and permanent incorrigibility warranting the extreme sanction of life imprisonment without parole.