Oklahoma teen Chancey Luna was “bored” when he gunned down an Australian baseball player in cold blood. Now the 18-year-old will have to find new ways to occupy himself in prison, where he will spend the rest of his life.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , Luna was successfully convicted of killing 22-year-old Chris Lane. Lane was in Oklahoma attending college on a baseball scholarship. He was out jogging when he was spotted by Chaney Luna and Michael DeWayne Jones. Prosecutors said that the teens were determined to kill someone and chose Chris as their victim.
Chancey Luna to serve life behind bars without possibility of parole for muder of Chris Lane. Details #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/cRAGdBvgxg
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) June 17, 2015
Lane was gunned down from behind while out jogging along Country Club Road in Duncan, Oklahoma. Luna admitted to firing the fatal shot from the passenger side of the car Jones was driving. He was 16 at the time of the incident. The age of Chancey Luna was repeatedly brought up by the defense, insisting that 16-year-olds often “take stupid, senseless, [and] thoughtless actions.”
The jury didn’t buy it. Chancey was convicted in April, and District Court Judge Ken Graham upheld the jury’s recommendation for a life sentence. That sentence was handed down by Graham on Tuesday. Chancey Luna will spend the rest of his life behind bars. The only other option available to him was a life sentence that would have let Luna be paroled in his 50s.
Chris Lane murder: Oklahoma teenager who killed Australian baseball player led to sentencing… http://t.co/75T8rgTIk6 pic.twitter.com/EHAIQLtVQP
— Guardian video (@guardianvideo) June 17, 2015
Images of Chancey Luna during and after the verdict revealed a stoic, almost emotionless response to learning he would never see the outside of a prison at any point in his life. While many teenagers have an entire future to anticipate full of hopes and possibilities, there is very little left for Luna. If anything at all.
His victim, Chris Lane was in arguably in a similar position before he was killed. The Australian had college baseball and a good education ahead of him. All of those possibilities were taken away by senseless violence. Although the defense and Luna’s own mother tried to argue that Chancey’s actions weren’t tied to genuine gang violence, the outcome of his crime is very much the same and just as tragic.
Chris Lane’s dad speaks after his late son’s killer is sentenced to life without parole http://t.co/9kaZT68bJs pic.twitter.com/C1srtKrcj3
— The Age (@theage) June 17, 2015
Some argue that it isn’t fair that someone so young could be handed down a life sentence without the chance to ever pay for his mistakes and return to society and start again. What do you think?
Should the judge have sent Chancey Luna, an 18-year-old, to jail forever? Please share your perspective in the comment section below!
[Image Credit: The Guardian /Amazing Papers YouTube]
