To all here:
The culprit killed this woman and may get the benefit of a plea bargain or a reduced sentence in the prosecution’s plan for the trial to result in a conviction.
And the ones who stay in juvenile incarceration often get out early or at the most are released at age 18. At that time they often track down the witnesses, jurors and survivor such as the daughter.
There will be no wood chipper involved.
And no true justice in the system of pseudo-justice.
My prayers going up for the soul of the woman killed and for her daughter to heal from the horrific memory and other loved ones and friends to cope with this.
“The culprit killed this woman and may get the benefit of a plea bargain or a reduced sentence...”
Unless he is certified as an adult, which might not be legally possible because of his age, he’ll be tried in a juvenile court for ‘delinquency’. The trial will be held in secret and the outcome never announced. The surviving daughter and the public will not be allowed to know what became of her mother’s murderer.
Philosophically, the juvenile justice system does not exist to punish young offenders but rather to try and ‘fix’ them into becoming good people.
The juvenile judge will sentence him to whatever the judge feels will serve the juvenile’s best interests. He could be sent to a group home, a ‘youth center’ (much more confining) or even sent home to his parent(s). While the judge may no doubt take the severity of the crime involved in meting out the sentence, he or she doesn’t have to.