Crime

Iowa teen who killed grandparents sentenced to life without parole

/ AP

MANCHESTER, Iowa - A judge says an Iowa teenager who pleaded guilty to killing his grandparents should never get another chance at freedom.

District Judge Michael Shubatt on Tuesday sentenced 18-year-old Isaiah Sweet to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the May 2012 shooting deaths of Janet and Richard Sweet at their home in Manchester.

Sweet pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his legal guardians.

Those charges normally carry automatic prison sentences of life without parole. But because Sweet was 17, he may qualify for a lesser sentence under rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Iowa Supreme Court that require judges to consider whether juvenile offenders can be rehabilitated.

Shubatt says Sweet is "extremely dangerous" and unlikely to be rehabilitated.

First published on March 11, 2014 / 5:06 PM EDT

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