A woman given a mandatory no parole life sentence will get a second chance because of a US Supreme Court decision banning such automatic sentencing for defendants under 18 at the time of the crime, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Prosecutors claimed Tia Skinner was angry with her parents because they didn’t want her to see her boyfriend.
Authorities claimed that the boyfriend and another young man attacked parents Mara and Paul Skinner with knives, and that Tia orchestrated the attack.
The mother survived but the father did not,
During the assault, Tia was in the basement watching a movie.
The Skinner house was in Yale, about 70 miles northeast of Detroit.
Tia Skinner was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
Skinner appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, based on the Supreme Court case. The appellate court agreed that Tia Skinner would have to be re-sentenced by the trial court.
Skinner may still get life without parole, but the judge must consider a number of factors first.
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