By Wesley Robinson
pennlive.com

Thirteen inmates convicted of murder in Lancaster County might have a chance at freedom for crimes they committed as juveniles.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that people serving life terms for murders they committed as teenagers must have a chance to seek their freedom, a decision that could affect more than 1,000 inmates
.

Lancaster County District attorney Craig Stedman said a statement the decision does not guarantee release for the inmates, adding that he understands the impact on the victims and their families.

"The decision is sickening for prosecutors and law enforcement on many levels, but we have been preparing for this possible outcome," Stedman said in a news release. "We will fight for the victims and their family members every step of the way, in any courtroom or forum where we are needed."

The justices voted 6-3 to extend a ruling from 2012 that struck down automatic life terms with no chance of parole for teenage killers. Now, even those who were convicted long ago must be considered for parole or given a new sentence.

The court ruled in the case of Henry Montgomery, who has been in prison more than 50 years, since he killed a sheriff's deputy as a 17-year-old in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1963.

There are about 450 inmates in Pennsylvania serving life sentences for murders committed before age 18, according to the district attorney's office.

Stedman said his office will work to "salvage what we can for justice in each and every one of these murders." He added that public safety is a major concern if the 13 Lancaster convicts were to be released.

The offenders are as follows:

  • Alec Kreider was 16 when he killed three members of a Manheim Township family in May 2007.


  • Tabitha Buck was 17 when she aided in the killing of Laurie Snow in 1991.


  • Gregory Sourbeer was 14 when he killed his mother in Columbia in 1976.


  • Levar Jones was 14 when he killed taxi driver Brian Whetts during a 1995 robbery in Lancaster.


  • Manuel Ortiz was 17 and Jones' accomplice in Whetts shooting death.


  • Melisa McManus was 17 when she suffocated her newborn son in 1993.


  • Ricardo Cruz was 13 when he shot Debbie Rivera, 18, on a city playground in 1992.


  • Michael Bourgeois was 17 when he tortured and killed his adoptive parents in Ephrata in 2001.


  • Emru Kebede was 16 when he conspired to rob and shoot Ray Diener in West Donegal Township in 2007.


  • Aramis Gonzalez III, then 16; Anthony R. Lewis, then 17; Rodney Lee Walton, then 16; Clarence Laudenberger, then 16, when they were involved in the shooting death of Michael Heath 1996.

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