It’s hard for me to take sympathetic view of this killer, even though he was quite young at the time of the crime.  The victim is still dead, regardless of the perp’s age.  I would also like to point out that Texas is the last place one is likely to find mercy in a courtroom.

Read the entire story here:

Michael will be 45 before he is eligible for parole.

Michael will be 45 before he is eligible for parole.

A quiet, somber courtroom listened to a jury’s sentence of 99 years in prison Wednesday, the maximum possible, for 16-year-old Michael Martinez Jr.

Martinez was found guilty Wednesday in connection with the 2007 beating death of a homeless man, 48-year-old Eric McMahon.

Martinez declined comment before Judge Lee Hamilton pronounced the sentence, and as he has throughout the trial, Martinez faced the punishment with a calm, straight face.

McMahon’s daughter and ex-wife, both in the courtroom, also declined comment to the defendant in court.

“I’m very happy the way things turned out,” said Mandy Valdez, McMahon’s daughter.

Martinez is eligible for parole in 30 years…

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