Curiosity
Dying inmate paroled: Kristina Fetters To Be Released To Hospice
Kristina Fetters has been in prison for 15 years and will now be paroled to a hospice, where she is expected to die from breast cancer
Mitchellville, IOWA – Today will mark the day the first person is paroled from a life sentence under the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that sentencing a juvenile to a life in prison is unconstitutional. The decision has been difficult for states to embrace in cases where the aggravated nature of the crime prompted them to try a juvenile as an adult. In the case of 33-year-old Kristina Fetters, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on a charge of premeditated murder for the 1995 brutal death of her great aunt Arlene Klehm who was age 73.
At the time of her trial, her family testified to the young girl’s troublesome upbringing and history of mental illness. The court did not accept their pleadings and meted out the harsh sentence to her. Now, 18 years later, Fetters is dying from inoperable breast cancer. It isn’t mentioned whether the cancer could have been early detected with adequate health care and mammogram screenings. At this point, she will be paroled into a hospice care program to live out the remainder of her days. She is not considered a threat to society, but will be intensely monitored by her parole officer nonetheless.
On The Web:
Freed to die after a life in jail: Woman, 33, dying of breast cancer who was sentenced to life when she was 14 for stabbing aunt to death is released to a hospice
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1203/Dying-inmate-given-a-life-sentence-at-age-15-paroled-to-hospice-care